The Zerg Rebirth
by WriterFrantic16
Summary: Inspired by the stories of East Bridge. In a world of survival, when beasts dominated and befouled the environment, one shall evolve and lead their family to safety. How so? By the numbers and power of the Zerg Swarm.
1. Waking

**Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft or its affiliates.**

Waking

"Scott! Alexis!" The long hair teenage girl hacked and coughed as she stumbled around the smoldering embers of the apartment home, her skin covered in black ash as it rained down from the floors above. She flinched as another set of burning beams came crashing down next to her, singeing her hair and clothes as sparks flew. But it would not discourage her from finding her siblings. "Where are you?!"

"Over here!" A faint shout was heard, followed by heavy coughing. Without hesitation, Kiara turned to the direction of the voice and dashed over. Blocking her way into the bedroom was a blackened plank of wood, but it was easy to kick it in with a well-placed strike to the weakened middle. A flurry of fiery sparks surrounded Kiara as she entered the room, spotting her younger siblings in the corner. Scott was coughing badly but still had his arms around the younger Alexis, protecting her fragile body with his sturdier build.

"Got you two!" The girl exclaimed as she grabbed both teens and yanked them to their feet. "Thank god you're safe!"

"Big sis, you've come to save us!" The youngest of them exclaimed, her relieved face dulled by the soot covering her cheeks. "I knew you would!"

"Enough talking, we need to get out of here!" Kiara shouted, rushing out of the burning doorway and gesturing wildly. "C'mon! Leave the valuables!"

She didn't hear the large beam above her snap. She heard her brother's cry of warning just in time to look up to see the burning wood fall in what seemed to be agonizing slow motion towards her. There was no way that she could dodge it in time.

Kiara closed her eyes and mentally cursed. She was too late. As the beam slammed into her head and cracked it open, darkness and fire consumed her mind as the screams of her siblings were the last thing she heard.

O O O

**Day 1, Year 1**

The first thing she heard was snarling and growling. It sounded close, and something wet nosed her exposed side. Then something scratched at the exposed ribs on the other end.

Instinctively, Kiara's body reacted with such skill and movement that a human normally shouldn't possess without years of training. Her hand dug into the dirt it was lying against and was used as a leverage point for her body to vault upwards. Her legs spun out into a split, launching an attack on both sides and meeting something with a sickening crunch. There were two yelps of pain, followed by renewed snarling as Kiara landed on her two feet, her purple hair flying over her face as she took in the bizarre situation she was in.

Her hair was purple. That's the biggest of worries. And she wasn't wearing any proper clothes.

Instead, her body was draped in a set of fur pelts that loosely hung together in a skimp fashion, barely covering her chest and waist. Her sides were exposed, revealing a skinny and malnourished abdomen as her ribs were easily seen through the pale layer of skin. Her limbs were likewise deprived of such muscles, but there was strength in them, as obvious from the moves just performed.

Circling Kiara were two ferocious wolf-like monsters, their white fur standing up and making them seemed giant. It seemed rather unnecessary, considering that they were easily the size of a human man without the added puff. A quick glance at their salivating mouths revealed two large fangs sticking out of the mouth. Her mind instinctively reacted by identifying them as hostile threats that must be taken out.

One of them got bored of waiting for its prey to run and lunged. Her eyes caught the sudden motion and her body reacted so, extending out a hand to grab the side of the neck as the beast lunged. As the animal was swatted out of its attack, Kiara followed it with an elbow slam downwards onto its neck, snapping bone as the creature's windpipe was crushed.

Trying to take advantage of the distraction its companion's death caused, the other wolf leapt forwards and attacked Kiara's back. She howled in pain as the sharp claws dug through the thin furs and into her skin, drawing lines of blood on her skin. The purple hair girl's bare foot shot backwards and caught the beast's belly, sending it flying into the air.

Without hesitation or hindrance from her new wounds, she turned and leapt forwards, following the beast as it flew. Her arm drew back as the hand composed itself into a spade-like gesture, spiraling forwards into the exposed abdomen. The long and unkempt nails dug easily into the skin and ripped through the thin layer of muscles protecting the vital organs, piercing the heart with a single thrust. The wolf whimpered once, but fell silent as its body crashed against the ground, its fur matted with blood as it trickled out of the new hole.

Kiara landed next to the body, grunting in exertion as the battle's toll was finally felt. She tried reaching back to wipe the blood dripping down her back. It clung to the furs and colored them red, but the pain was at least subsiding. She would still have to make some kind of salve or bath them in water to clean the wound before it got infected. Physically, she would make it.

But mentally, her mind was in a state of shock and confusion. What just happened? The last memory she had was that of dying from a blow to her head…

No, wait, she died of an infected wound on her side! The memories of this world's girl came rushing towards her, crashing against the existing state of Kiara like a tsunami as she instantly felt all the pain that this body has endured. What was discovered was shocking.

The purple hair girl who lived before her in this vessel had no name. There wasn't a need for one; she was the only one in her family with such a unique hair color. Besides, they haven't even developed the concept of names yet. She was born to what must've been the first humans on this primitive world, destined to a life of chaos and suffering as her entire life had been about survival.

Her parents were already dead by the time she was 10. But already at that age, she possessed enough combat skills to take down any solitary creature that was larger than her without much trouble. It was necessary to develop that in order to obtain food for her already starved body and her siblings.

Siblings! It popped into Kiara's mind without warning. She had a younger brother and sister on this world as well! They were attacked last night by a pack of wolves and were overwhelmed easily. She was forced to leave the dead bodies as the girl's survival trait kicked in, but it was too late as a bad wound was suffered. Infection set in as she dragged her body away from the campsite, finally falling to the clutches of death as this line of humans was doomed to extinction.

But she was alive! Kiara touched her head with her hands, feeling the purple locks that flowed down to her waist. There was no doubt that she was given a second chance of sorts.

And she intended to use that chance. A loud scream was heard nearby and it sounded oddly familiar. Her body's survival instinct told her to run away, but Kiara wasn't going to become a coward in this life. Dragging her bare feet against the dark dirt, the girl threw herself forwards into the thick undergrowth surrounding her.

After only a minute of running, the large green leaves gave way to a small clearing which barely the size of a car from Earth. There, she found more of the wolf pack, about six angry beasts circling two barely clothed individuals in the center. Her siblings were alive?!

Then the same set of green eyes met and, instinctively, Kiara knew who they were. "Scott! Alexis!"

"Kiara?!" The two chorused in surprise. This was taken as a sign of fear and the wolves attacked the two in the middle. But they were sorely mistaken as only determination was shown by the duo.

Sweeping his arms, Scott caught the attack of two of the wolves with his forearm and yelled, staggering back as two sets of bite marks appeared. Two more of the beasts were pushed back as Kiara leaped forwards and tackled them with outstretched arms, slamming them into the ground. The last two broke through and got to Alexis, but her small body reacted immediately by rolling under the lunge and to safety behind them.

The purple hair girl was enraged by the daring attack on her remaining family and raised both arms, darting them down with spade-like hands. The downed wolves yelped once and fell silent as their hearts were pierced instantly. Drawing the bloodied hands out, she turned and was promptly astonished by what her siblings did to fight back.

As he stumbled back, nursing the bitten hand, the other hand snapped downwards and grabbed s dagger-like rock lying nearby. Scott glanced at it and immediately noticed its sharp edge. He swung it forwards in a wild attempt to drive back his foes. The weapon caught the snout of one of the wolves and tore through its skin without effort, causing the animal to jolt to the side in pain as half of its jaw was rendered useless. The other wolf tried biting down on the offending arm, but Scott's arm flexed and drove the bone backwards into the neck of the wolf, causing an immediate piercing of the throat and, thus, death.

Alexis, coming out of her roll, turned and met one of the wolves charging at her. Her hand suddenly erupted into a flurry of electrical energy as she drew it back, shooting a lightning arc forwards towards the wolf. It hit straight on and promptly fried the animal's body, overloading its heart and sending it collapsing to the floor in a fit of shudders before falling still. However, her hand was severely burnt by the lightning and Alexis cried in pain as she grabbed the blackened skin. So she couldn't react in time to beat of the other wolf, which lunged and clawed into her exposed side.

The resulting scream of pain got Scott's attention as he turned to see his little sister in trouble. Smoothly and without hesitation, he raised his arm and threw the stone knife at the offending target. It struck with true aim, right above the wolf's heart and sent the white creature flying off. But this left him weaponless as the injured wolf from before reared back to strike-

Only to get kicked in his jaw as Kiara lunged forward with her foot, snapping the last bone in its mouth. Unable to think clearly through the pain, the wolf lay there at the edge of the clearing, whimpering as a hand was driven right through its heart without any mercy shown. Shaking the blood off her hand, the purple hair girl turned to see her siblings shocked at the scene.

Six dead wolves, three scantily clad bodies, and an unknown question stood thick in the clearing. Clearing her throat, Kiara asked, "Are you two okay?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't make sense…" Scott blankly said as he wiped the blood coming out of his arms, unable to comprehend the pain he just suffered. If this were death, then why was there a slight burning sensation of pain in his arm? "I…I remembered dying in a fire! But why am I here?!"

"Big sis!" Alexis ignored the pain coursing through her body and tackled Kiara with a sob. "I thought you were dead! I fell down and I hit my head-!"

"To be honest, I think that we're all dead."

**A/N: Welcome to the Zerg Rebirth! As you can already see, my think tank period wasn't for nothing. I hope all of you will enjoy this journey as much as the Terran Rebirth, if not more!**


	2. Transformation

**Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft or its affiliates**

Transformation

After the fight, the three decided it was best for them to flee the area immediately in case the main pack wanted to come back for second helpings. They didn't want to fight anymore yet, not until they finally understood their new situation. With understanding would come true strength, as they wanted to know more about this new life.

Kiara, Scott, and Alexis were panting heavily as they finally stopped on top of a giant hill, having run the entire way. They had to put a lot of distance between them and the campsite, lest they get sniffed out and hunted down. These wolf beasts were remarkably fast despite their size, and would always attack with superior numbers to finish off a hunt. There was no doubt that the three of them could fight them off, but in their currently wounded state, they were no match if the pack leader showed up as well.

"Well, I have to say, that was a close one!" Scott gasped the minute his lungs finally gave him spare breath. "We would've probably been eaten had we not woke up sooner. Thanks for that kick Alexis."

"No problem bro." The younger sibling waved off the compliment and looked down at her fur clothing, pulling it experimentally. "Yuck, these smell of blood and sweat! And I don't like my new hair, it's too long and it's golden!"

"You have some green highlights streaking throughout," The brown hair boy added, reaching behind and grabbing his own long hair. He frowned and took out the stone knife that he retrieved from the wolf's body. With a flick, it sliced through the fiber at the back of his throat and the long bangs covering his face, leaving Scott with much shorter hair. He ran his hand upwards and pulled, raising the hair slightly so that it spiked upwards. "Better."

"Hey, can I have a haircut as well? But do it in a cool style!" Alexis eagerly requested and her brother nodded, motioning for his sister to turn around. A few quick swipes later, her blond hair was cut to shoulder length and most of the bangs were sliced off. However, two strands were left dangling over her forehead, making them almost seem like feelers from a bug. Noticeably, the ends of her hair were green as Scott had used them for the cut position. "Awesome, thanks!"

"Bangs only," ordered Kiara and her brother obliged, slicing through the annoying bangs covering her line of sight. "Good. Now, let's take care of our wounds."

"We need water." The lone boy stated, stuffing the knife back into the fur loincloth he wore. "Anybody know where the nearest river is?"

"Over there! I see some pools of water down there!" Alexis pointed and the other two turned. By luck, there were a few bodies of water down the hill they currently were on. As the three made their way down, they stumbled a few times as the grassy expanse suddenly gave way to barren rocks and dry dirt. Their faces grew hotter as they came close to the water, and it was no surprise when they discovered steam rising from the liquid. "Hey, hot springs! We struck it good this time!"

"Nice job Alexis." The purple hair girl patted her sister's back and turned to the water, placing a hand in experimentally. "Seems like a nice and good temperature."

"I don't know…it seems quite barren here." Scott kneeled down and grabbed some dirt, shifting it through his hands and smelling. "What if there are chemicals in the water that caused organisms around it to die? We could be in some serious trouble if we took a dip in it…"

"Nah, take a look. It's probably the heat that killed everything around here!" Alexis explained, her eyes looking around. "Hey, there's three springs! One for each of us! C'mon big bro, I'm tired and, judging from my memories, this is a rare treat! And the water will also clean up our clothes when we bathe in it!"

"…fine, but just be careful." The brown hair boy sighed, walking over to one of the springs and quickly submerging himself in it. The blond girl giggled and walked over to another spring, placing her feet in and dangling it for a while before falling into the water with a playful manner.

Kiara walked forwards to the center slowly, feeling the water's depth grow to the point where most of her waist was submerged in the hot liquid. Her dark hair spiraled around her as it floated against the water, limp and submissive. She sighed in relaxation as the pain on her back ceased to be, the blood washed off by the hot liquids. Knowing that flushing the open wounds with heated water would actually disinfect and clean it, the purple hair girl reached back and touched her back.

There were no wounds. After a few confused pats, Kiara craned her neck to look over her shoulder and was baffled at the sight. Her skin was whole again, without a single scar or indication of it ever tearing in that place. Not even a drop of blood was seen in the water surrounding it! "My back! It's…it's healed!"

"The bite marks on my arm are disappearing as well!"

"Hey, my hand isn't blackened anymore! This water is awesome!"

"This spring water…." Kiara suddenly felt something tug down on her bare foot and looked down instinctively. There, rising out of the bottom of the pool, were five massive webbed walls! A shout and scream of surprise confirmed her suspicions as both her brother and sister were met by the same thing. The eldest sibling tried to dash out of the way, but the walls twisted and closed, sealing her inside before she could even get a glimpse of the sunlight.

Then the water level inside the sealed chamber began to rise. She tried to break out, but Kiara's legs were useless against the fleshy walls as they were slowly enveloped in the hot water. Her skin scalded and grew red as the hot water continued to grow upwards, threatening to burn her entire body by its temperature. Eventually, it reached her head and Kiara's supply of air became scarce. She held her breath as long as possible, hoping that she could find a way out then, but it was hopeless as her lungs burned with desperate need for air. Her mouth slipped and the hot water rushed in, scalding her insides and burning them up from the inside as Kiara's eyes closed shut from the pain. Darkness threatened and did consume her, sending her mind into a deep sleep…

O O O

**Day 2, Year 1**

The transformation process took only a day to complete.

Kiara's eyes suddenly slammed open as she realized she could suddenly breathe. With reckless abandon, her hands swung wildly in the now empty chamber and hit the dried up fleshy walls. It broke apart easily now, and the purple hair woman fell out of the chamber. Her eyes were partially hurt by the sudden influx of the bright dawn but Kiara could now see something besides darkness as she scrambled to her feet.

The chamber she had just broken out of was dried and rotten now, with hardly any indication it was living at least a day ago. Looking at it from the outside now, it was shaped in an oddly familiar shape as Kiara stared at her former prison. Why did it look so familiar?

But even more shocking was when she stood up straight and realized that it was barely her height! It could barely reach her forehead, least of all drown her entire body in hot water! Either it shrank, or did she grow? Glancing down, Kiara let out a yelp of surprise. This certainly could not be her body!

The furs that had once covered her body were now gone. Instead, covering her entire body from the elements was a thin fleshy purple membrane of sorts. Brown carapace dotted her body, covering up several spots such as, but not limited to, her shoulders and hands. Her feet had been covered entirely by the carapace, giving rise to heel-like structures that felt smug to stand on. From her forearm up, carapace covered the membrane and gave rise to claw-like hands. Kiara's hair was also covered in brown carapace, but the purple original could still be seen under her now braid-like hair.

It struck her just as hard as the news of a fire in her home. She knew who she was. _She had played a video game character like this before!_

She looked identical to The Queen of Blades. Sarah Kerrigan, the infested Terran Ghost. Mass murderer and destined savior to the world of Starcraft.

Starcraft. It all made sense to her now. She was given the power of the Swarm upon death!

Seeing two identical eggs like hers nearby, Kiara rushed over to the nearest one and pulled back her arm, smashing through the dried flesh without any trouble. Scott's body fell out and it wasn't even a second before he started gasping and wheezing for breath, trying to take in as much air as he could. A glance at him as he lay on the ground confirmed Kiara's suspicions. He too, had been infested with the power of the Swarm.

His fur loincloth that had been wrapped around Scott's waist had stayed with him during the transformation, but it was now much thicker and was made out of a flexible form of carapace. It looked as though his chest had developed quite a bit of muscles during the transformation, and so no carapace was needed to cover up the muscles, only a thin blue membrane layer. It seemed that he too, grew older in the chamber, to somewhere in his early 20s. His slick black hair was also untouched by the infestation, which Kiara envied slightly. She would've preferred it that her purple hair was unchanged, but that was a slight complaint in light of their discoveries.

When the last egg was shattered and Alexis' body fell out, Kiara was slightly perturbed. Unlike her siblings, it seemed that the youngest of them didn't grow as much as the others. She still looked different, but it couldn't be more than late teens in comparison to her siblings. Her body changed in the same way that her sibling's did, but with a green membrane skin and without the hair braids.

Again, that infuriated Kiara, but that was the least of concerns. Alexis was still too young and too small to fight effectively. That meant that Alexis was the most vulnerable of them all in combat. A bit concerning-

"OH MY GOD, IT'S THE QUEEN OF BLADES!" Scott yelled, falling back. Oh right, her siblings played Starcraft as well. They knew the characters. The man sank to his knees and bowed his head, pleading, "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME OR INFEST ME!"

"Oh, calm down, it's me!" Kiara rolled her eyes. Her brother was always a bit overdramatic and over worried at times. "And have you looked at yourself? You look almost as terrifying."

"Big sis…?" The youngest of them all cracked open an eye before shutting it immediately. "Um, why do I see Sarah Kerrigan in front of me?"

"Trust me you two, me looking like Kerrigan is the least of our worries."


	3. Droning on about Hatcheries

**Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft or its affiliates**

Droning on about Hatcheries

**Day 2, Year 1**

"So let me get this straight," Scott began, pausing for a quick breath in anticipation for his explanation. "In this world and in our old world, we died. Then we were reborn as a single entity with a second chance. The price for that chance is our humanity, considering we have just been infested by the infamous Zerg from the video game Starcraft that we all play. And now, we can rebuild our entire lives using the powers of the Swarm, regardless of the heavy trials we may face. Are you sure we are not clinically insane and that this isn't just a cooked up story written one late night on some shady site?"

"Yeah, that was one of my first thoughts," Kiara admitted, scratching the back of her head awkwardly. "But I guess variety is the spice of life. Besides, are you really going to pass up the chance to become the founder of an entire race?"

"No, I do not want to at all! I don't even play full Zerg, I like Terran more!"

"Same here, but with Protoss." Alexis gave a slight pout before giggling and getting on her feet, looking at her new body with eagerness. Even though her vessel may have grown older, her mind certainly has not matured at all. "Oh come on bro! This is super amazing! Can you imagine all the fun we'll have taking over this world? Let's do it!"

"This isn't just a game like back home, Alexis, this is real life," The elder brother argued. "I want to see what's out there as well, but can we really do it without dying? We don't even know how to start out with!"

"But that's the fun of any game of Starcraft! You don't know if what you're doing is right until you've won the match! It shouldn't be that hard to translate a sci-fiction video game into a life where anything is possible!"

"Just at least slow down and think about the hazards. I'm sure we can overcome them all, but at what cost? Do you want to be the next Queen of Blades, mass murderer and prime assassination target? We should take it slowly and figure out our ultimate goal before setting it out on anything!"

"To survive and protect each other is our goal," Kiara stated simply, turning and watching the sun rise higher in the sky. "This world is dangerous for us to live in…for now. But once we take it over, race by race, area by area, we will eventually achieve protection for our family. Sounds good?"

"I guess so, but what is our first action?" Scott reemphasized with a bit of annoyance. "I mean, it's not like a freaking Drone will appear out of nowhere-"

A rather loud chitterling noise cut off the sentence as the three froze in response. Turning their heads slowly, they spotted a creature having entered the barren area they were in. It was barely bigger than a dog and was moving around on webbed legs, the air passing through it giving the impression that the creature was slightly hovering. Two large pincers snapped as its multiple eyes stared at the humans, confused by this new species. Alexis was the first to react and pointed with a large grin. "Found one!"

"…Oh, screw it all. Let's go infest some stuff and commit race genocide." Scott sighed. That seemed to alarm the primal Drone. It surprisingly moved quickly, turning around and scurrying away on its webbed legs before anyone could react. But before it was almost far too easy to catch up to it a short distance away, as it cowered in a small hole in the ground. "So…what do we do?" The man asked as he crouched and tried poking the creature. One of its pincers snapped out and Scott yanked his hand back quickly.

"Aw, you're cute!" Alexis disregarded her brother's last action and picked up the Drone from the hole with both hands, ignoring its frantic cries. She hugged it as the wild animal squirmed in her arms. "I wanna name you something cute now!"

"Alexis, no naming Drones!" The panicked creature was plucked out of the young girl's arms by Kiara, who looked at the primal creature in its eyes as she held its body up with one hand. It screeched and swiped wildly with its claws, but the purple hair woman merely caught both pincers with the other hand and forced it to look at her. Scott and Alexis both took in a sharp breathe as their sister's eyes suddenly glowed a vibrant purple color, their minds suddenly feeling barraged by a variety of instincts. However, none was far more so dominant than what came out of Kiara's mind.

_**OBEY ME.**_

The Drone immediately stopped struggling and hung limply off Kiara's hand, staring blankly ahead as it was unceremoniously dropped to the ground. Without hesitation, it rolled back onto its feet and waited there for its newest command. The purple glow faded from Kiara's eyes and both siblings let out a gasp as they could suddenly breathe again. It was quite a scary feeling for them, having everything in their heads suddenly exposed to a foreign presence, even if it was their sister's. "Dammit Kiara, don't do that again!" Scott barked, grabbing his stomach as he dry heaved. "It just feels wrong!"

"Sorry you two, that was my first time trying to subjugate something," The woman apologized. "And I admit, being in your minds made me feel slightly sick as well, as you tried to push me out of your mind while I accidentally tried to control yours. Your willpower is quite impressive."

"Well, I guess that if we are to command the Swarm, we all need to have good subjugation abilities if they are to obey us. How did you do that by the way?"

"Tell you what, I'll let you two try it out the next time. You just need to have determination to do so, and that'll trigger an instinct that will subjugate our minions. Just remember: they obey whoever is strongest in their minds."

"All right. So what now?"

"We fine more Drones." Kiara glanced down at the creature at her feet, which was still waiting obediently for its orders. "Take us back to your home."

Without any further prompting, the multi legged beast turned and began scuttling off. Kiara, Scott, and Alexis trailed it as it crawled around in the undergrowth, taking its new masters back to its home. As they walked, the three siblings got a chance to actually take in the new world with their new augmented senses thanks to the transformation. With their eyes, they could spot little black dots flying near the cliffs over in the far-off distance. With their ears, they could hear the sounds of creatures funneling under the earth. With their noses, they could smell the slight acidity in the air from something expelling a corrosive liquid nearby.

But that was all to be dealt with later, as the three suddenly felt a squishy feeling underneath their feet. Looking down, they discovered that a thin layer of purple colored moss-like material covered the ground. Except it wasn't moss, for it _moved._

"Is this…creep?" Alexis knelt down and experimentally prodded at the material. It felt slimy and a piece of it stuck to her finger as she pulled back, dropping back to the ground after a few seconds of dangling it. "It's kinda cool I guess? Wait a second…"

The blond and green hair girl stood up and closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath as she activated her subjugation instinct. Like her sister, she wasn't able to control the radius of influence on her first go and both her siblings flinched as they felt Alexis enter their minds. But it was only a moment of discomfort before the presence withdrew, the young girl opening her eyes as she made mental contact with the creep.

"These are living cells! I can feel them under our feet, growing and dividing! It was easy to overtake their minds, cause each of them has only the most basic of minds," She informed her siblings eagerly before frowning. "But they're not expanding very far right now…they need some kind of nutrient source to do so, and there's only one source suitable nearby."

"Like a Hatchery?" Scott pointed and there it was. An organic structures that was about twice their height stood in front of the three newcomers as Drones scurried back and forth nearby. They appeared to have no purpose besides gathering up creep from off the floor, scraping the excess cells from the ground and bringing it in the Hatchery for storage and breeding purposes.

In front of one of the pores of the Hatchery, some worm-like creatures wiggled around on the creep, occasionally letting out a screech as the three walked closer to the Hatchery. The Drones around them paused in their creep gathering and stared at their guests, unable to react via natural behavior to the new variable. But all Scott had to do was stare at them and try out his own subjugation instinct, instantly taking control of their minds and forcing them under the control of the new Swarm they just created.

"AWWW!" Alexis practically screamed her head off as she scooped up one of the larvae, hugging it without care as it squirmed in her arms. "SO CUTE AND CUDDLY!"

"Sis, that thing a disgusting and vile creature of the Zerg race. It has the potential to become a ravenous Zergling or a rampaging Ultralisk or a mind controlling Infestor. HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!" Scott shouted as he yanked the larva out of her arms and tossed it to the ground. "And what the hell makes you think it's cute?!"

"It feels squishy and has such an adorable body! What's not to love about it?'

"Oh I don't know, the fact that it could KILL YOU BY SIMPLY GROWING UP?"

While her brother and sister bickered over a larva, Kiara walked towards the Hatchery slowly, her hand coming rising up to touch its outer wall. The second her clawed hand touched the fleshy membrane, every living thing in the clearing flinched as Kiara's eyes glowed purple. She suddenly could see everything in the clearing and beyond, through any other Drones that have wandered off. The creep became her eyes and ears, relaying all the various information towards her without any delay or hesitation. All the Drones understood they had a master now, one to follow based off the mental superiority displayed.

Kiara felt enlightened now as she felt every mind in the Swarm, connected by psionic bonds. The Zerg race, as of now, was nothing more than one big cumulative mindset, acting as one to ensure survival on this world. But they wanted more. They wanted to grow, to conquer, to evolve! This world would be the first to fall prey to the newly born Zerg race. All other species would be absorbed into the Swarm. There would be nothing threatening their family ever again.

But the Hatchery actually resisted Kiara's advances. Its primal mind snarled and tried to fight back, protecting the precious larvae and eggs within from invasion of a foreign source. The purple hair woman was slightly taken off guard, but she merely smiled as her mental instinct pushed harder. Now the Hatchery's will was slightly faltering as its one last chance to dominate the world with a new species was disappearing.

_Let us help_. The mental voices of her siblings both chorused as Kiara felt them join the battle for domination. To her surprise, the minute they joined, the mental pressure increased almost tenfold. Kiara realized, with a shock, that the most of that bonus mental pressure was exerted just from Alexis alone as the young girl closed her eyes. Scott glanced at Kiara and met her eyes, obviously shocked as they felt their youngest sibling utterly rip apart the Hatchery's mental defenses.

With the pressure of the three Overminds, the Hatchery stood not a chance and collapsed almost immediately. The glow in the siblings' eyes faded as the domination powers died down as they grinned at each other. Mental subjugation completed.

Then the Hatchery's independent will started to arise again, trying to wrestle control back. Alexis was the first one to sense it and gritted her teeth, throwing her arms out as her eyes flashed back to a neon green color. The Hatchery's mind howled, but it could not break the dominance exerted by the young girl. "This isn't going to work!" She grunted through her teeth, her entire body thrown into the effort of subjugation. "There are too many living things here that'll encourage the Hatchery's sense of protection!"

"Well. we can't just let a Hatchery run wild! We need something to help exert mental dominance constantly…something that'll work without any need for breaks." Scott's eyes immediately lit up as he figured out the solution to his own question. "We need an Overlord! That'll provide us with more mental synaptic control over these minds."

Knowing the answer now, Kiara focused on the minds of the Larvae and ordered one to transform into the bulky flying creature. But she soon found a problem when attempting the command. "I can't morph Larvae into anything besides a Drone! The DNA sequencing for Overloards is locked!" She growled as she examined the DNA strand mentally. "We're missing a piece of the puzzle!"

"We must need a certain organic chemical that has not been discovered yet by the Zerg to activate that strand of DNA. We have to find a creature that secretes that chemical and absorb it into the collective mindset!"

"Those dots in the distance-!"

"That could be the missing link!" The two glanced at their struggling sister, who had calmly sat down on the creep and was breathing in deeply. She cracked open an eye and glared at her older siblings, blowing a bang out of the eye.

"What are you two waiting for? Go, I can handle this!"


	4. Flying Spines

**Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft or its affiliates**

Flying Spines

**Day 3, Year 1**

"Dammit, another freaking bird!" Kiara swore as she picked up the rock and threw at their 13th attempt at finding an Overlord, the small creature letting up a quick squawk in response before flapping away. "I could've sworn that I saw our needed big fat monster flying by a few minutes ago!"

"Keep calm sis. I'm sure we'll find one eventually." Scott patted his sister's shoulder in comfort and turned his eyes back to the sky, searching for a flying tentacle creature. "Alexis needs us to stay calm to find an Overlord quickly. Getting angry won't do much but prolong the search time if we search with reckless abandon."

"Alright, but we need to hurry!" The purple hair woman snarled before striding away, looking to the skies angrily as if cursing it. The two siblings had been searching the entire night for this elusive Overlord. Their bodies didn't tire in the slightest as the moon steadily rose and fell from the sky as the hours ticked by with no luck.

For all they knew, the Overlord could be anywhere on this world! It could be in space, it could be in another biome, it could be hiding behind that cloud! There was no real way to sense where one was as far as Kiara knew. Unless…was it possible that Overlords would be mentally sensitive like the rest of the Swarm

Closing her eyes in concentration, Kiara threw her arms out and activated her psionic instincts. An invisible sphere of influence formed in her mind's eye, spreading out from her body and to the environment around. It was a command of absolute will to reveal one's self to the leaders of the Swarm, unwavering and unbreakable.

Shame that the sphere was only about ten meters in diameter.

Scott laughed as Kiara blushed and canceled her instinct, trying to pass off the attempt as a mere thing. He bent over as he slapped his knee, trying to control the uncontrollable irony he saw in the situation. "Despite being the oldest, you really aren't that great at subjugation! Compared to me and Alexis, you're nothing in terms of psionic power!"

"Shut up, I can kick your ass any day in combat!" The older sister snarled, turning back to the task at hand with a red face (or the closest one could have when infested). "Try your own sphere of influence, see if anything pops up."

The spiky hair brother nodded, trying to bite down his giggles as he slammed his hands together and closed his eyes. Instantly, the difference between their mental powers was apparent. Kiara could feel her brother's influence sphere grow until it was about 50 meters wide, easily five times her area! One had to wonder how big Alexis' range was.

His glowing blue eyes shot open as they immediately sense the prey. "Over there! Go capture it!" He shouted and pointed.

From the undergrowth sprang out a large bulky monster, easily the size of a flying car as it took off into the skies. The primal Overlord matched its appearance in the game completely, nothing too surprising. The lone feelers on its body flew wildly and limply as the monster took flight from the trees it had been concealed in, hidden in plain sight. Its' eyes swiveled around rapidly in fear as it flew off, trying to escape the foreign presence in its mind by gaining distance.

Unfortunately, it was working as it was flying right off a cliff. "Are you kidding me? I can't jump that far!" Kiara shouted, rushing to the edge and looking wildly. But it was no use; the Overlord had escaped the range of any normal projectile.

But as Scott mentally wallowed in his failure, he felt his body react to his needs and raised an arm, gripping the elbow with his other hand. The man felt a jagged rush of pain shoot suddenly through his outstretched arm as something on his palm opened up and a jagged projectile shot out. Only Kiara's sharp eyes to catch what it was as it flew through the air akin to a bullet, moving faster than normal eyes could see.

It was a spine shot, something that the Hydralisks of the Zerg Swarm prided themselves on as a unique ability. Capable of piercing even the toughest of metals, it was a dangerous weapon for any on the receiving end. But if it hit-

Without fail, the spine pierced the fluid sac of the Overlord's side, went through its vital organs, and out the sac on the other side. The flying monster instantly deflated as all the air giving the beast its buoyancy deflated out of the hole. With fluids trailing out and a sinking sound of air rushing out, the body fell limp and sank like a rock down onto the ground below the cliff. It was most certainly dead.

Kiara stared at her brother, who tried looking innocent. "…I wanted to aim for its tentacles…" Scott mumbled as he examined his hands, noting the pore-like structure in his palms. "I guess I saw the giant sac as a target."

"Let's go down there." The older sister sighed before jumping off the cliff, landing on the side and sliding down in a flurry of rocks and dirt. Her brother followed suit and soon, the two were standing in front of an Overlord's corpse. "Well, suffice to say, I think that you are good at shooting spines. Capturing things alive? Not so much."

"Hey, it wasn't my fault! My body acted on instinct!" The spiky hair man protested, holding out his hands upwards. "At the very least, I now know that I can shoot things with spines! I just need some practice until I can do it at will."

"Yeah, but that practice killed the creature we needed to bring back _alive_ to better help Alexis. You are a moron!"

"I'm sorry, alright?!" Scott huffed and turned away, already clapping his hands together as he activated his mental sphere. Within a few seconds, he dropped the pose and shook his head. "Argh, nothing nearby. We need to find new grounds to search."

"Again, you idiot. A living Overlord is nice, but a dead one should also serve our purpose if my theory is right." Kiara knelt down and placed a hand on the body, closing her eyes in concentration. "You know what I'm talking about right? You couldn't have forgotten the Heart of the Swarm missions already."

"Sis, you very know well that Wings of Liberty was the better campaign. I didn't even manage to finish that stupid Roach evolution mission!"

"That's cause you are an utter noob. But you finished the game right?"

"Well, yeah. Like everyone else."

"Do you remember the mission in which Kerrigan and Stukov breach the Terran space station? And that boss fight against Narud?"

"That wasn't much of a boss fight as much as it was just a timed mission, but yeah, I remember that mission."

"What was the first thing they came across in the level?"

"Er…a Protoss Zealot?"

"No, the other creature they came across!"

"Oh, um, a dead Ultralisk."

"And what did Abathur say about it?"

"'A pity it is dead'?"

"That's Stukov!" Kiara's eyes snapped open and she glare at her brother, unable to believe his poor memory. Scott's response was a rude hand gesture that plainly showed he didn't care about the expansion pack of their favorite game. Where did he even learn how to make that gesture?"Abathur said that the creature's essence was what was important! Death matters not: the body was far more important. Using that, he could bring it back to life and absorb the DNA of the Ultralisk into Kerrigan's Swarm."

"Oh, right. Wait, does that mean-?"

"It should also apply to Overlords then." Her eyes closing, Kiara's hair floated upwards for a second as she focused her limited psionic powers onto the dead body. In her mind's eye, she saw through the flesh, blood, and cells of the Overlord, focusing on the multiple tiny golden strands she saw. Carefully raising her hand, she beckoned and the golden strands rose up in her mind. But in real life, Scott saw several purple mists emerging from the corpse of the Overlord, gathering up in Kiara's raised hand and condensing. It was only after a few minutes did she open her eyes and gasp, having held her breath in during the entire process.

In Kiara's hand was a glowing strand model of DNA, hovering via psionic power. Scott and his sister looked at the Overlord essence in wonder, Kiara slowly closing her fist and feeling the DNA enter her body. She knew that, without a doubt, she now had the ability to make Overlords. This was what they needed to help Alexis.

O O O

…It didn't seem as though Alexis even needed help.

"Oh, hey!" The blond and green hair girl waved with one hand, stroking a larva squirming around in her lap with the other hand. "Took you guys long enough! The entire night passed by before I noticed! I was just about to send out some Drones looking for you two."

"Are you alright?" Scott asked as he helped her to the feet, the girl dropping the larva onto the creep for the creature to wiggle about. "Anything try to attack you?"

"Nah, it was pretty chill here." The younger sister shrugged as she glanced towards the Hatchery. "I mean, besides this thing trying to break out of my control, there's nothing really interesting around here. I assume you two managed to get an Overlord?"

"Yeah, we couldn't bring it back alive, but here's the DNA essence we need." Kiara raised her hand and, from her skin, the psionic holographic representation of the helix model appeared. She closed her hand and her eyes at the same time, ready to morph her first creature. "Hope this works!"

Even with her shorter area of influence, Kiara easily focused on a nearby larva and ordered it to morph into an Overlord. It instantly obeyed the order, and its body activated the newly uncovered DNA segment in the strand. With the necessary chemicals now coursing through its body, the larva curled up and its skin puffed out, forming a shell on the creep around the creature as it reworked its entire structure. Tendrils needed to be grown, the brain must be augmented, and the fluid sacs have to be developed. It would take some time.

The purple hair woman opened her eyes and smiled upon seeing the transformation shell, knowing that the process would be a success. Alexis and Scott both approached the egg and examined it with fascination, seeing through the translucent walls the larva inside transforming. "You think that's how we looked when we were infested?" The brown hair man asked.

"Probably." Alexis poked the membrane, feeling how surprisingly hard the cocoon was despite its appearance. "Hey, I just noticed something: we don't have wings like in the game! You think getting this Overlord essence will let us evolve them? Cause I really want to fly!"

"Sadly no. The Overlord can fly by using the sacs on its side to create a buoyant state that is lighter than air. We don't have the same capabilities and need to get a creature with actual wings compatible for the Swarm," Kiara explained, pausing once she finished. Since when was she good at Biology?

"Well, shoot!" The young girl pouted and crossed her arms. She sighed before asking, "So when are we getting Mutalisks?"

"Not for a while I would think," responded Scott, elbowing Kiara as he remembered something. "Alexis, have you tried using sphere of influence yet?"

"Um, how do I do that?"

"You just reach out with your mind with minimum pressure and see how far your reach extends out to."

"Alright, I'll try." The blond and green hair girl raised her hand and placed the index finger on her temple. Alexis' eyes then flashed green as she felt her mental sphere expand out, enveloping everything around her and beyond with her mind's eye. Kiara and Scott both focused and saw that, to their shock, that Alexis covered area beyond their expectations. Her sphere of influence was easily 200 meters across! There was no way anything psionic could hide from her.

Then her eyes flew open and a strange snarl was heard from the normally tranquil sister's mouth. "The wolves found out! Our Hatchery is under attack!"


	5. VS Pack Leader

**Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft or its affiliates**

VS Pack Leader

**Day 3, Year 1**

Immediately, the entire clearing exploded into a flurry of activity.

The Drones that had been scuttling around suddenly abandoned their creep gathering activities and fell back to the Hatchery, relying on their new masters for protection. The larvae on the floor shrieked and tried to wiggle its way closer to the Hatchery as well, fearing for their lives. The creep seemed to harden in response as the surface cells prepared to be attacked upon by any foreign object outside their collective body.

The three sibling's bodies reacted by pure instinct as they realized that something was attacking their family. Kiara hissed and crouched slightly, opening up her fists to reveal the claw-like carapace that covered them. She felt a familiar feeling rise in her, one that only adrenaline could trigger in this dire situation: unbounded rage that somebody would dare attack her blood.

Scott flicked his two arms downwards and a spine from each palm shot out, but instead of letting them fly into the ground, his finger's closed and caught the boney weapon. Now he had two knife-like weapons in his hands, allowing Scott to hold them much like daggers. He assumed a fighting stance, with one hand down and the other hand up in a scorpion-like pose as he bounced lightly on his feet in preparation.

Alexis merely raised her two arms in the air and closed her eyes. A moment later, they flew open to reveal a glowing green color as sparks of lightning condensed in her hands, arcing off everywhere as she channeled the psionic energy within. However, she struggled to gather this much power and soon fell backwards against the Hatchery, grunting in exertion as her sphere of influence suddenly became harder to maintain while fighting.

Her purple hair sister noticed this and gestured. "Stay back and keep the Hatchery safe! If anything that isn't Zerg gets nearby, shock it!"

"I can fight!" The blonde and green hair girl protested, trying to stay on her feet. "I just need a few minutes to rest!"

"Well, we don't have that-" The brown hair man suddenly threw his arm out in a swift motion, aiming for a small target. His spine weapon went flying and struck into the head of an approaching wolf. Probably an early scout. The creature was slain instantly and Scott flicked his hand, summoning another knife from his body. "Here they come!"

"Scott, keep me covered!" Kiara shouted, already taking long strides forward to meet the charging foes. Three more wolves appeared, lunging out of the undergrowth as they finally found their prey. That was the thing with these primal creatures: they would never stop hunting until their target was in their stomachs.

The woman leapt forward to match the lunge and dove in-between two of airborne creatures, slashing with both hands sideways. On the body of each wolf, large gashes appeared in their underbellies as the claws broke through the skin with no problems. The organs all dropped out the same time the carcasses flopped onto the creep and skidded, leaving a trail of blood along the purple moss-like material.

The third wolf missed Kiara by lunging too high and she simply twisted to go under while leaping forward to kill its comrades. When it landed back on the ground, it turned and barked before lunging again, trying to avenge its fallen brothers. It was not to be though as another one of Scott's spines slammed into the exposed spine, severing the bone line in two and killing the creature as it flew towards the older sister.

But this was to Kiara's advantage. Another wolf had just appeared and was lunging at her from the undergrowth. There was a heavy body flying her way from the other side. All the female Overmind had to do was duck and let the body slam into the lunging foe, sending it back into the undergrowth as the only texture the creature's tongue felt was bloodied fur.

The offended wolf got back up quickly and howled, calling for reinforcements. Kiara's ears pricked up as she picked up multiple sounds heading to the clearing, far too many to be a pack hunting for food. "This isn't just a simple hunt for food," The infested woman snarled with realization. "This is extinction. They want to kill off the Zerg before it grows."

"Take care of the front, and we'll get the back!" Her brother shouted, turning to face the foes emerging from the rear of the clearing. A smart idea, had it not been for the fact that the Hatchery was directly in the middle and the Drones were all huddled up near it. Scott smiled wolfishly as his hands became a blur, sending spine after spine knife into the advancing foes. Once, one got close enough to lunge at the man but he simply ducked and stabbed backhanded a spine through the belly, flipping the body so that its momentum would cause the corpse to slide over Alexis and land on the creep.

Speaking of Alexis, she wasn't out of the fight yet. Breathing in deeply, the girl placed a hand on the Hatchery and focused on her other hand, generating sparks with it. Whenever a wolf came too close, she would thrust out her hand to send an arc of lightning towards the beast, deliberately targeting the heart so as to quickly slay the creature without much exertion. But this was not very often, mainly thanks to Kiara.

The purple hair woman may not be strong psionically, but physically, she was unmatched. Twisting, leaping, dashing, and lunging, Kiara was all over the clearing, taking down wolves by the pairs with every strike. She was a purple blur, defending everywhere by taking the lives that threatened her family. Her face was contorted into a horrifying expression of rage as blood flew everywhere, coating the creep, coating her claws, coating her body. Whenever there was a lucky lunge or swipe from a foe, her membrane and carapace combo protected most of the attack and left only a bruise or light scratch. But these lucky attacks were little and far in-between. There was no way these wolf grunts could defeat her!

At least three dozen wolf bodies littered the clearing before the Pack Leader showed up. The remaining live wolves, soaked in the blood of their comrades, flinched when a loud roar was heard. The sound shook the trees and the ground, scattering birds everywhere as they fled from the coming danger. The three infested humans all paused in their slaughter, only slightly perturbed by the loud noise. Was that…?

Without needing any other stimulation, the wolves turned tail and ran, not wanting to be in the way of their leader's battle. But they stopped and positioned themselves nearby, wanting to see the ensuing bloodbath that this foe would soon drown in. There was a reason why the Pack Leader controlled this wolf pack.

The undergrowth parted way violently as a creature twice the size of any normal emerged, a huge version of the beasts they had just been fighting. Its white fur was standing straight up as the Pack Leader regarded the puny threats that had just massacred most of the wolf pack, the snout pulling back to reveal bared teeth. The monster then roared, shaking up the Zerg world as it stomped with one paw, preparing to rip apart those who challenged its authority.

"I'm pretty sure we're under-leveled for this boss," Scott and Alexis both stated in a small voice. "Can we go grind a bit?"

"No, I've got this. You two, keep the wolves at bay." Kiara ordered as she faced down the monster bigger than her, flexing her hands and feeling the carapace covering them. They were still bloodied and bits of gore stuck onto them, but it didn't bother the woman at all. What matter was the thick pounding of the blood flow in her ears, her accelerated breathing, her dilated pupils. Adrenaline streamed freely in her veins, released by her hormones as the flight-or-fight instinct came in. But there was no fleeing from this!

This is the time for her family to fight!

Letting out a guttural roar, Kiara's eyes flashed purple as she ran forward, leaping into the air with her augmented leg muscles once she closed the distance to the Pack Leader. Her sudden actions shocked the monster, who was normally accustomed to its opponents running away in fear from the sight that it placed forward. The wolf recovered quickly though and raised a large paw, taking a swipe at the airborne opponent.

Kiara's left hand made contact with the counterattack swipe and slammed the paw back to gain more forward momentum, leaving the infested woman with an open shot to the Pack Leader's exposed and surprised face. Using her right claw this time, she lunged forwards with the push gained from the failed counter and pierced the Pack Leader's forehead. The sharp claws pierced the flesh and the skull, barely touching the precious organ contained within due to lack of length. However, that was enough to cause tremendous pain for the boss.

Its head now dripping blood, the Pack Leader roared in pain and tried to remove Kiara from its vital spot via slamming its head to a nearby tree. But Kiara anticipated this and had already taken her claws out, pushing off the forehead with her carapace legs the moment a tree slammed into the open wound. The result was even more burning pain in the monster's head and it bellowed in pain, but was quickly silenced as it felt two thick heels slam onto its neck.

Knowing that she could never hope to break the neck bones for a quick end, Kiara instead ran along the Pack Leader's spine. At the same time, her claws lowered and dug into the flesh of the beast, creating long bloody scratches as they dragged across the skin. They served no other purpose than to enrage the Pack Leader even further, as the beast roared and rose up on its hind legs to its full height, trying to buck the Zerg leader off.

Instead of resisting, the purple hair woman went along with it and fell downwards, facing the ground face first. At the last possible moment, her hands shot out and grabbed the edge of the Pack Leader's dangling tail, using it as a swing to propel herself under the beast's belly just as its front paws slammed back onto the ground. Kiara then let go and slid on the mossy creep below the monster, facing upwards at the belly of the beast and reaching up with her claws to pierce the thin flesh and rip apart some of the organs within.

The Pack Leader screamed in agony this time, feeling its vital survival machinations suddenly get torn up by the foe underneath. But as Kiara slid out from under the beast, the wolf snarled and snapped its teeth at her, finally catching this elusive prey as it applied pressure on the jaw. Time to feed!

Caught off guard by the sudden bite, Kiara's arms and legs shot out and each pushed against a respective fang in the Pack Leader's jaw. She grunted, feeling the full power of the jaw muscles that the monster exerted in an attempt to crush and consume its prey. There was no way she could-

The jaw muscles! Her eyes darted back and forth, marking the thin cartilage on either side of the wolf's mouth as the vital targets. Kiara took in a deep breath, trying not to gag from the putrid smell of the Pack Leader's breath, and focused. Her sphere of influence activated and it spread quickly, easily reaching her siblings down below. _Scott, those cartilage sections-!_

_Got it!_ Two spines flew into the mouth with deadly precision and broken open the layer of flesh, breaking the muscles that usually held the jaw muscles together. Instantly, the pressure on Kiara disappeared and the woman retaliated, pushing off the bottom teeth and snapping the jaw bone once and for all.

Confused by the sudden lack of feeling in its mouth, the boss roared and stood back up on its hind feet, trying to simply swallow Kiara with little regard to anything else. Without hesitation, Scott and Alexis back on the ground punished this inattention and promptly shocked/pierced the wolf's underbelly, sending its already scrambled organs into an even greater mix of blood, guts, and flesh. This sudden pain shocked the Pack Leader, and it was a fatal mistake.

Again, Kiara pushed off the bottom teeth but this time leapt upwards, out of the limp mouth and high into the air. She locked eyes with the Pack Leader for a brief second before giving a savage smile and diving back into the jaw, aiming for the large hole in the back with her claws extended. Her body was enveloped in a single automatic motion by the throat muscles, but it wouldn't matter for long as the momentum of her fall sent her plummeting through the wolf's chest, through its heart, and out the tail.

Kiara landed with a thump on the creep, her entire body drenched in blood as she knelt on the ground, her eyes closed. The Pack Leader behind her swayed back and forth a bit, unsure of its weight before dropping sideways with a loud crackling noise from the trees underneath snapping. Its side heaved a few times up and down, as its punctured lungs tried to inhale more oxygen to restore life but there was no hope. Its heart had been punctured and blood just pumped out in geysers from the scratches that were created earlier. With a final whimper, it gasped and fell silent, the first victim of the Zerg Swarm.


	6. Zerglings

**Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft or its affiliates. The image is taken from Starcraft Wiki and is thus in public domain for usage.**

Zerglings

**Day 3, Year 1**

With no more Pack Leader, the wolves lost the synapse holding them together and became feral almost immediately. Some fled the scene, running away with their tail between the legs as they feared them who took down their boss. Some simply slumped down and placed their heads between their paws, having no motivation whatsoever to keep surviving.

Unfortunately, most of them saw a weakened prey and threw everything left they had against the Zerg Swarm. Normally, it wasn't a problem. Problem was, there were far too many attacking at once for the three infested siblings to counter at the same time. Also, Kiara was beyond tired from her fight; the Pack Leader had done a number on her! She could still kill the ones that dared challenged her, but dashing around and taking care of the others in the clearing was beyond her stamina range currently.

"There's way too many! We've gotta pull Drones to body block!" Scott shouted, stepping backwards slowly as he tried pushing back the tide of aggressors using his spines. Two broke through though and both bit at his hands, nearly shattering the bone had the man not kicked them away quickly. He gritted his teeth and focused on fighting rather than the pain on his palms.

"We don't have another base nearby! If this Hatchery falls, we may not have enough resources to make another one!" Kiara yelled back, barely dodging a wolf's lunge and snapping its neck. "Alexis, what can you do-"

Then the Overlord hatched. The pulsating green egg burst open with fluids spraying everywhere as the membrane was broken, the creature inside freed. Instantly, Alexis gasped with relief as she felt the aggression from the Hatchery break suddenly, focusing on the flying creature rather than the small land creature. The Overlord took on the burden without question, understanding its role as the lesser psionic form of the Zerg Swarm and obeying its masters' commands. It was like a giant loudspeaker, augmenting a small fraction of psionic power from the Overminds to a giant sphere of utter dominance. However, these floating monsters had no free will or thought, making them completely harmless without any urge to steal minions from the Swarm.

"Synaptic control established!" The youngest sibling cried out with glee, her eyes flashing green as she crossed her hands over her body. Immediately, sparks began gathering and crackling together as her unbound mind leapt to new limits, no longer restrained by mortal limits or resisting subordinates.

With a loud scream, she threw open her arms, hovered into the air, and let up the pent up energy saved up. The lightning arced from her body, leaping onto nearby foes in a heartbeat and shocking them till death. The attack was beyond intense; it lit up the entire clearing into a brilliant bright light despite it being already noon! And it didn't stop there, as it was chain lightning! In a single attack, Alexis the weakest of them all slew the entire wolf pack using her psionic lightning and her mind.

However, the cost was her entire stamina pool and the girl collapsed on the ground after the final wolf slumped down, dead. Her chest was barely moving up and down as Alexis fell into a deep slumber, unable to maintain enough energy to continue a conscious stream of thoughts. Kiara and Scott immediately made their way to her, but froze as the creep reacted to their slumbering master. It rose up and covered her entire body in an egg-like pod, not unlike the ones used to transform larvae into the stronger incarnations of the Zerg swarm. A dark silhouette of her body was seen within, floating in green fluid as the cells of the creep worked hard to restore the lost energy. They would transfer all the excess energy gathered in the cells of the creep into the small body of Alexis, providing her body with ample energy to recover successfully from the huge outburst. It would take time however.

But they had all the time in the world now. The wolf pack was dead, and the Pack Leader had been slain. The Zerg Swarm had just taken their first victim race.

"…I'm going take five too, kay?" Kiara tiredly said and fell to the creep as well, closing her eyes as her body landed on the surprisingly squishy material. Instantly, the cells rose up around her and created another rest pod, leaving Scott alone as both his sisters recovered from their overexertion.

He didn't need any rest though. The brown hair man looked at the wounds on his arm and grimaced, feeling the pain. However, creep immediately rose up on his legs, weaving its way up his body and onto the wounded area, covering it for a minute before receding back onto the ground. The punctured skin was now healed, the damaged and missing cells replaced by the creep as all Zerg DNA was located within. "Well, that's kinda handy," The man remarked, turning and looking out over the clearing. He was now the Overmind in command.

The Drones were immediately put back to work by the Overlord, cleaning up the corpses strewn all over the place. It seemed that having Overlords would greatly benefit the Zerg race, as they could lift the burden of exerting synaptic control over a large body of minions. They took the wolf bodies and dragged them across the creep, not caring about the blood stains on the purple moss as they dumped the lifeless beings in front of the Hatchery. There, a small pore on the side of the organic building opened up and sucked in the entire body, fur and muscle. Using his psionic connection, Scott could figure out that the bodies were being digested as food inside the Hatchery, providing a generous boost in cellular production thanks to an abundance of nutrients.

However, none of the Drones dared approach the body of the Pack Leader. The eldest brother walked over to the monstrous body and cautiously flicked out a spine, tapping its skin just to make sure. Then he began to slash open the gut, cutting out a giant square section and drenching his arms in blood as they dug into the flesh. Remembering what his sister did to the Overlord's corpse, Scott closed his eyes, held out his hand, and focused on his mind's eye.

Glowing golden strands of DNA appeared in his mental image of the grisly scene in front of him, and Scott focused on them. The strands rose up from the Pack Leader's cells and floated into the air, gathering up in the Overmind's open palm as he commanded the innate Zerg DNA within to awaken. It was time to make the wolves a permanent addition to the Zerg.

A small double helix model floated in Scott's palm when he opened his eyes, similar to what Kiara obtained from the Overlord DNA. But his sharp eyes could pick up minute changes in strand, multiple parts of the nucleotide bases in which the DNA codes for different chemicals. He understood that these chemicals, no matter how small their role may be, could potentially change a being for the better or worst.

However, he couldn't tell what exact changes were predicted. That was Kiara's field of expertise. She was obviously better than him in biology standards.

Scott closed his palm and allowed the Pack Leader's DNA to sink into his skin, feeling a sudden burst of energy reinvigorate him as another segment of the dormant Zerg genetic code awaken within. He felt as though he could run for miles now! The wolf DNA, it must code for-

Kiara's pod opened as the newly restored female Overmind woke up, the protective cocoon receding back into the creep for future usage. The purple hair woman gasped as her breathing finally became steady, restored thanks to both the pod and the newly accumulated DNA strand. "Holy mother of Amon! Whatever you did, give me five shots of those and I'll be good to take on another few Pack Leaders!"

"I can do better." Scott grinned as he turned and waved a hand at the larvae, his mental subjugation powers activating automatically. He frowned when his order was rejected, unable to comprehend the failure until, with a snap of his fingers, he took control of a single Drone. He directed it to the edge of the creep in the clearing and ordered it to morph into their newest organ of the Zerg Swarm.

The creature shivered and then implanted itself onto the creep, unable to refuse the command to sacrifice its mobility and life for the good of the Swarm. Its carapace then molted and dissolved, as the internal guts of the Drone were reduced into pure Zerg cells for the transformation. The raw and pulsing skin expanded outwards, swelling upwards to form a pus-like structure on the creep. Within, a dark shape that used to be the Drone was seen swimming around in its own internal organs, reshaping them into another form satisfactory for the Overmind.

By the time the structure was almost done, Alexis was finished with her recovery and stepped out of the cocoon, yawning as the pod sank back into the creep. "What's up?" She asked with a sleepy voice, eyeing the pus filled structure. "You morphing something?"

"Not yet, but soon." The brown hair man responded, staring at his creation the minute it finally finished. The thin pus wall burst open and the liquid flew into the air, but it almost evaporated instantly as the pus was made up of volatile chemicals. A pool filled with a bubbling green fluid appeared from the popped structure, the liquid within giving off an acidic taste in the air.

This was the Spawning Pool. Its purpose was to secrete a special chemical mixture with the purpose of rapidly increasing Zerg metabolism. Already, Kiara, Scott, and Alexis all felt its effect as their bodies were suddenly filled with unbound physical energy, making them slightly jittery and fidgety as they tried to get use to this new surplus of power. But that was a small benefit in comparison to its other goal. Scott turned his mind focus onto the larvae and tried again to morph the newest addition to their family of monsters.

Immediately, most of the larvae formed cocoon eggs as they were given the command to evolve. There were eight morphed in all, one Overlord to further help with synapse just in case and seven of the new creatures just assimilated into the Swarm.

These new creatures were the first ones to spawn. Using the new DNA provided by the Pack Leader, the larva actually split into two during transformation, forming two genetically identical twin creatures when they were birthed. Breaking out of the eggs in droves, the 14 Zerglings are chittered and cackled as they ran across the creep, stopping next to the two Overminds as they waited for further orders.

The Zergling looked very much like a wolf, but it definitely was a Zerg creature considering its carapace and membrane appearance. It was very much smaller than a normal primal wolf, but bore larger side fangs and thicker armor, a trade off that most certainly made sense. They placed more emphasis on the leg muscles than the wolves, so as to leap and bound up to ridiculous speeds when necessary. The smaller form also focused the already fast metabolism of the large wolf into an even more extreme version, hence allowing the fast and rapid moves that the Zergling was capable of doing.

"It's a pity we don't actually have wings unlocked in the Zerg DNA, else we could have really fast Zerglings," Scott remarked as he examined his handiwork, pleased by the results. Now the Swarm had actual infantry units!

Unfortunately, that wasn't how Alexis saw it. "SO CUTE!" She screamed, rushing over and hugging one around the neck as if it were a dog. "Who's a good Zergling? Who's a good Zergling?!" The girl cooed as she patted its head. To her siblings' surprise, the creature gave a slight growl of satisfaction as it was rubbed.

"Alright, I guess that Alexis can command this batch if she wants to spend time with them." Kiara laughed before turning to one of the nearby Zerglings and focusing. She instantly gained access to its mind without any qualm, for all the creature thought was obedience. There was no free thought, no will of its own, no desire to survive. All it sought was to obey the strongest in the Swarm.

That, Kiara could do quite easily. If not, the Overlords could take care of it for her. And if they couldn't do it, well, there were always her sibling to help in anything. The time where this world falls down onto its knees to the Zerg Swarm was not far off!


	7. Expansion

**Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft or its affiliates**

Expansion

**Day 3, Year 1**

Before the trio could advance any further in the world, they needed to morph more Zerglings to build up a small army. It didn't need to be powerful, but the combination of speed and numbers associated with Zerglings would most certainly make up that lack of actual unit strength. That would take time to morph however.

No problem. While waiting for the Hatchery to produce enough larvae for their army, Kiara, Scott, and Alexis experimented with their new battle prowess and weaponry by sparring with another. They also played around with their mental powers, seeing what new possible psionic attacks they could have. There were a few nicks here and there during the spars, but nothing too serious. All three siblings had played rough before and their new bodies gave them nothing more but a chance to up the stakes.

To be honest, as their third day on this world came to a close, nothing much was learned or gained. They simply knew what they were: infested humans with the capability to control hundreds of living beings at an eventual point in time, destined to consume worlds in their path for food. Joy.

Perhaps that was for the better. The Zerg Overminds must be at the apex of the Swarm, the ideal perfect result of evolution. Complex ingredients could complicate their DNA sequence and make something less than optimal; no, it was for best that they knew their present, and their future.

"So how many Zerglings do we have now?" Scott asked as the three stood in front of their new army. "Enough to take on another race?"

"Beats me," responded Alexis, who shrugged. "I gave the command to auto-spawn Zerglings (and Overlords if necessary) and let the Hatchery do its own thing. Nothing too complicated or confusing."

Indeed, floating above the clearing were half a dozen Overlords. They just hovered there, lacking motivation at all to move beyond where they spawned. It didn't look like it, but these lazy creatures were currently projecting an augmented synaptic sphere of control, effortlessly keeping all Zerg creatures within their influence under the control of the Overminds. Kiara and Scott had already tried talking to them, seeing if they could talk, but the only things an Overlord mind understood was obedience and conformity. It had no inkling of free will at all.

"Have you been able to discover anything working with them?" The purple hair woman asked. "Like how to modify their genetic sequences in Heart of the Swarm?"

"I found it, but I can't do it." Alexis clapped her hands together and pulled them apart, an eerie orange strand of DNA strand hovering in between her palms. Using her left hand to maintain the psionic illusion, the blonde and green hair girl slowly maneuvered her digits from the right hand into the double helix structure. It clung like a web to her fingers, exposing the nucleotide sequences that coded for life in a Zergling. But she was too rough and the strands broke, breaking the illusion as the command was not recognized. "I'm far too rough in my attempts. We need somebody with gentler or more precise hands than me, something like…er…what was that guy called?"

"Abathur the evolutionary master," Kiara responded, her mind scrolling through Zerg game lore. "He was in charge of the Swarm's evolution progress and was capable of manipulating the Zerg genome at his command. That way, Kerrigan's Swarm was augmented in ways unique only to her Brood alone. Are you saying we need to find a creature like Abathur?"

"It's not a bad idea when you think about it," Scott added, rubbing his carapace covered chin thoughtfully. "If we can take over a sentient and free thinking being for the Swarm, that'll give us another perspective on how the Zergs fight."

"Alright, so let's keep an eye out for something like Abathur to recruit. Next, let's figure out our next move for world domination."

"Oh, we should expand!" Alexis excitedly raised her hand, waving it as if she was one of those eager students that wanted to be called on by the teacher. "We need to focus more on macro! I can do that!"

"Well, we can't exactly send a drone to our natural, can we?" Scott frowned. "I think we'll have to send out our Overlords to do a quick scout and report back possible locations for our next Hatchery. Unless you want a macro Hatch?"

"No, I think Alexis has the better idea. But instead of sending Overlords without any protection, I suggest that Scott and I scout it ourselves." Kiara nodded once after speaking, liking her idea more and more by the minute. "Alexis, you stay here and stay out of danger. You're the best at controlling the Zerg, so we'll leave all the macro for the Swarm up to you."

"Aww, but I want to explore a bit! I can take care of myself you know!"

"Yeah, but we need you _specifically_ to guard our Hatchery." The eldest brother leaned down and ruffled his sibling's hair, giving her a reassuring grin. "This is a very important responsibility alright? You need to make sure that Zergling and Overlord production continues without any problems, especially since it's not likely we have unit limits like in the game. Do you understand?"

"…fine, but don't blame me if I go and fry a few stray animals nearby to alleviate boredom!" The girl grumbled and Scott nodded in appreciation, straightening himself up and turning to a small group of Zerglings. Kiara noticed his change of attention and beat him to the question.

"You mind if we take this pack?" The purple hair woman asked, already moving her hand so as to exert influence.

"No, take however many you two need. As you say, I can keep up production going on back here."

"Thanks." A quick wave and the Zerglings' blank minds were linked up with Kiara's superior mentality. They were now under her command.

But at the same time, Scott also tried taking control and a minor psionic battle ensued. The two participants gritted their teeth as they realized the mistake, their two minds instinctively competing for dominance over this pack. The spiky hair man quickly withdrew and backed off, not wanting to go against his older sister. "Sorry."

"It's no problem." The mistake was waved aside and the two Overminds turned to the thick undergrowth that separated the clearing from the rest of this world. "You ready?"

"Well, it's not like we needed to sleep anyway."

O O O

**Day 4, Year 1**

To say that traveling through the night was frightening was correct.

To not mention that it was beyond exhilarating would be incorrect though.

Kiara felt her heart pumping blood rapidly as she ran through the undergrowth, drunk on her own abilities. The absorption of Zerglings into the Swarm had awakened the "sprint" gene in the Zerg DNA sequence, allowing for the Overminds to, as masters of the Zerg, to gain the inhumane speed that Zerglings exhibited. Earlier, Scott had already quit running and was simply trailing behind, making the excuse that he hadn't fully recovered in a pod like his sister. That didn't matter to Kiara though: her mind was in ecstasy.

Her legs leapt over fallen logs and jagged rocks with reckless abandon, her eyesight blurring sight to a mere smear in the background. Her advanced hearing allowed her to embrace a grasp on everything around her: the cries of the beasts, the crackling of blown branches, the light padding of the Zerglings spread out in a line next to her. It was only more amplified by the lack of a good light source, making anything just beyond 10 meters in front of her unknown.

That just made her heart pound even faster. A cool breeze washed over Kiara as she ran, laughing in delight at this new power. No matter what this night would hold, she could feel everything that this jungle had to offer!

_Hey, wait up!_ Scott's voice echoed in Kiara's drunk head, barely piercing the veil of pleasure that coated her mind. _I think I found a good place to expand, but I need a second opinion. Slow down and turn around already!_

_Give me a few more minutes. This is fun!_

_NO! We need to get back to work!_

_Lalalala, I can't hear you!_

_Oh for god's sake!_ Suddenly, Kiara's ears perked up as an ominous whistling noise was heard. Her body reacted immediately by simply moving slightly to the right as the noise got louder and closer. Then, on the tree that she was just passing by, the bark exploded as the spine pierced at a ridiculous speed., showering wood all over Kiara. She growled in annoyance as some nicked her membrane skin, the pain cutting right through her happy time.

_What was that for!_

_Get back over here now!_ Scott practically yelled before cutting the connection, obviously done with the conversation. Grumbling a bit about the lack of respect from youth, Kiara slowed down a fraction and turned on a heel, facing back the way she came in one smooth motion. All the momentum built up went into the pivot, meaning that as she kicked off, she was still running at the ridiculous speeds she had been at before.

The Zerglings followed her maneuver but in a different way, locking up their muscles and sliding around before taking off again. Their physiology was most certainly different than that of the Overminds, meaning that they could afford to lose some of this pent up momentum unlike Kiara. It certainly explains how Zerglings could run so fast and turn to head back immediately if given the command.

Her brother was waiting impatiently in a clearing, not unlike that where the original Hatchery is. Reaching it in less than a few seconds, Kiara reluctantly slowed her leg movement to a leisurely walking speed, entering the clearing with nary a sign that she had just ran what must've been a few miles. Scott raised an eyebrow at her appearance, obviously expecting an apology.

Well, he wasn't going to get one. "You could've hit me there," complained Kiara with a snarky grin.

The brown hair man scoffed and waved aside the accusation. "Even back on Earth, I was the best out of us all in those weird knife-throwing lessons back in summer camp. I could've aimed for your hair and sliced it if I wanted to!"

"You wouldn't dare." Kiara sighed, obviously missing her euphoric trip. "Alright, you think this is a good position?"

"It's only a few miles away from our Hatchery, meaning that we can quickly move Zerglings back and forth these two bases if needed. Also, if we one day figure out how to spread creep, we could create a guaranteed zone of control between these two bases thanks to the proximity between them. What do you think?"

"Sounds good I guess." The purple hair woman shrugged, and then frowned. "But that means that if this base is threatened, the main base will also be at risk. You sure about that?"

"Like in the games, if you lose your natural as Zerg early on, it might as well be GG," Scott stated grimly. "And if you let your enemies push you back all the way here, then you're doing something wrong, especially if we litter the ground with Spine Crawlers and the like."

"Too true. Let's get a Drone over here then!"

"I've already told Alexis. She's sent half the number we have here with a Zergling escort and a few Overlords. They should be coming…ah, about now." Indeed, entering the clearing now were Zerg reinforcements, their minds blank and awaiting for the next order. Scott casted his mind to them and gently took control from the far away sister, marveling at how powerful her grasp still was despite the distance. "Okay, let's get this show on the road!"

Understanding the mental command behind the spoken words, one of the Drones skittered forwards into the center of the clearing and dug itself into the ground. Like before, the outer carapace melted away to reveal a pus-filled structure that was throbbing and swelling as the Drone sacrificed its life to make a new Zerg base. A hint of creep was seen emerging from below the developing structure, consuming the plant cells on the ground as nutrition for the Swarm's cells. The other Drones went to work clearing up some of the shrubbery in the clearing, dropping them off next to the Hatchery for future digestion.

Kiara frowned as she considered the implications of this cell consumption. Does this mean that for their Swarm to grow, they needed to consume everything they see? Without it, the Zerg cells would be unable to duplicated and expand their reach, barely able to keep up with maintaining the current population. But was the price of all living things worth it?

Her purple eyes wandered over to the back of her brother, as he directed the Drones and Zerglings all around the clearing. He was setting up the base for either becoming a micro or macro intensive base, in any case of danger or guaranteed safety. As Kiara watched Scott command, she couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in her younger brother. And the thought of Alexis handling Zerg macro affairs all by herself made Kiara's chest puff just a little bit higher.

Yes. She would destroy worlds to keep this perfect idea of family safe. Her wish for safe living could not go denied; even if it meant killing others, she would do so in a heartbeat if that was the price of happiness.

**A/N: Wow, thank you guys for the support you've shown the Zerg Rebirth so far! And I have an important announcement: since the 1st anniversary of the Terran Rebirth is coming up, I will be publishing a special one-shot for the Rebirth series on that day! So please mark that day as something to check on. I will also be taking questions and answering them in that story, but the same rules apply. Please send the questions via PM only, I will not consider questions sent in via review! Again, thank you all for your continued support of this series!**


	8. Cavern of the Crystal Roach

**Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft or its affiliates**

Cavern of the Crystal Roach

**Day 6, Year 1**

"Hiya!" Kiara deftly ignored the attempted distraction cry and crossed her claws together, catching the spine dagger that Scott swung with. Her leg snapped up and above the offending arm, posed to slam down in a powerful downwards kick. Scott saw this coming though and simply let go of the dagger, rolling back with his hand flicking and already drawing out another spine from his body as the man crouched on his feet.

But he froze as he realized that a sharpened finger was pressing against his throat, barely scraping skin. "You're too repetitive." The older sister shook her head, obviously disappointed by the lack of a challenge. "You need to break the habit of using the same back roll to escape a capture. Try bending and going with the flow instead."

Scott cocked his head and gave a nasty grin before leaping off the ground, using his crouched position as additional push to turn sideways. He twisted his legs together, creating a horizontal cyclone of limbs. The sudden ferocity of the attack threw Kiara off guard and she raised both hands up in a defensive motion, pushed slightly back due to the force from the kicks. "Like that?" The younger sibling asked, twirling his knives as he readied for a counterattack.

"Not what I had in mind, but it'll do I suppose." Kiara straightened up and Scott followed, the two of them letting out a breath of exhaustion. "How long have we been practicing?" The woman tiredly asked, looking over her claws and nodding as she noticed a lack of blood splatters across her carapace.

"A few hours, give or take." Scott let his hands fall limp and the spines dropped to the ground, the end immediately sinking into the ground even though the only force was gravity. "I think that we should maybe break for the day," he suggested, rotating his shoulder slowly and groaning as the sore muscles protested. Hey, nobody said being Overmind, especially one that fights, was effortless!

"It's only the morning, and you're already exhausted? Your stamina must suck!"

"You must've gotten more of those Zergling genes in you than me, cause I can't keep up with your training sessions. Ask Alexis, she understands my pain!"

_Um, I'll stay out of it, thank you very much_, a familiar voice sounded in both their heads. It was astonishing really, considering that both Scott and Kiara could hear their younger sister's mental voice miles away thanks to her skilled psionic powers. _But sis, you really are kinda tough on us. It's nothing too agonizing or painful, but can you at least tone it down a bit?_

"Well, I'm just worried about your wellbeing, that's all!" Kiara exclaimed, crossing her arms. "I wouldn't be a good older sister if I didn't make sure our family was capable of defending itself!"

"Yeah, I know, we appreciate that, but please, just take it down a notch," Scott pleaded, falling back and lying down on the creep as his leg muscles began to cramp up. "Ow. Ow. Forgot to stretch. Ow."

_Hah! Anyway, if you guys are done with training, I found something interesting and dangerous looking. That makes it worth investigating!_

"What is it?"

_Some sort of a crystal cave just a few miles away, at the side of a cliff. I found it though a few Overlord scouts I've sent out. It seems to be vibrating with some kind of energy within._

"The energy is probably some form of chemical radiation emanating from the crystals," The man muttered, considering the implications. "If we could retrieve samples and figure out how the radiation affects biological species, then we could possibly assimilate it for the Swarm."

"Sounds like a solid plan," The woman agreed, tapping her foot against the creep covered ground as she considered the execution of the said plan. "Well, I suppose that I can check it out alone and just snatch a few crystals to bring back to base."

"Not so fast, I want to come along!" Scott protested, but his older sister merely shook her head in denial.

"The Hatchery here is still developing and expanding. We need you to stay here to maintain the growth and to ensure that the base's defense is guaranteed. And since I'm the oldest, it's my responsibility to go first into these dangerous situations."

"But-!"

_To be fair, I'm taking sis' side this time. She's wayyy better than you in combat. Sorry!_

"If you want to do something, then be ready to provide reinforcements if needed. Zerglings should be able to reach my position in the crystal cave in a short time period." Scott looked disappointed at his role and his shoulders slumped, but he nodded slightly in confirmation. He would stay and protect the base because his sister asked him to. "Okay Alexis, where's this cave?"

_See that Overlord up above ya? I'll use it to direct you to these crystals. Make sure you've chosen the right abilities before beginning a mission!_

"This is NOT Heart of the Swarm, we are NOT on a Leviathan, and I'm NOT bloody Sarah Kerrigan!"

O O O

The Zergling gene was once again helpful in this situation, as it allowed Kiara to travel quickly over rough terrain without having to pause for breath. It truly was a hunting mechanism that the wolves before must've acquired after years of preying upon small and nimble creatures. Had it not been for the Overlord guide, she could've probably reached the cave a few miles away in less than half an hour.

Unfortunately, as the coding for improved Overlord speed was still locked, Kiara was forced to trail behind the slow moving creature. It was almost pure agony for her to travel so slowly, her body missing the exhilaration of a full-out running pace. To say she was tempted to simply pry the location from the Overlord's mind and take off was accurate. However, Alexis would throw a tantrum and Kiara really didn't want to deal with it if she was psionically linked to the entire Swarm.

Overall, it took the female Overmind an entire hour to follow the Overlord and find the cave. Grumbling slightly about the ridiculous handicap on Overlord doom drops, Kiara pushed aside the last few leaves of the undergrowth and found the cave entrance. Much like how Alexis described it, there were odd, orange glowing crystals that littered the walls of this hole in a cliff. The purple hair woman carefully advanced to the mouth of the cave, mindful of the crystal shards that sometimes poked out of the barren dirt floor.

Her membrane foot briefly brushed against one such shard and her body immediately felt refreshed. Even though very little energy was actually required for Kiara to run at top speeds using the Zergling gene, all the muscle sores and minor itches from recovering sparring wounds immediately dissipated. However, it was quite a numbing sensation and that would shock anything if they suddenly couldn't feel anything. Kiara leapt back in surprise and stumbled backwards as the feeling disappeared and her body felt pain again. The crystal's glow faded as the woman scrambled back on her feet. "Sweet mother of Amon, what is that?"

_Testing, testing. Can you hear me Kiara? This is Scott here. From the state of your mind, you seem to have encountered something fascinating. Care to tell me what it is?_

"I've come into contact with one of the crystals, and the weirdest of radiations is emanating from it." Tentatively, Kiara's claws lightly scratched and grabbed the crystal shard, pulling it from the ground. She held her breath as the material brushed against her hand's exposed membrane, expecting the numbing feeling to surge through her body once again. But nothing happened and the dimmed crystal just sat there on her palm. "Oh…I think that these things have a limited charge."

_Well, that's not good at all. If these crystals aren't sustainable, then the chances of us obtaining useful evolutionary information from it just went down to zilch. You should-_

_Yo. I'm bored._

_Not now Alexis! Anyway, you should investigate the cave a bit further. See if you can find the source of these crystals and-_

"Hold that thought," Kiara muttered as Scott's voice halted in surprise. The female Overmind scanned the cave's entrance, her eyes moving over the orange crystals poking out, the large boulders sticking out, the jagged rock curving out. That didn't sound right.

The purple hair woman tossed the powerless crystal in her hand up and down once before putting her strength into a throw at one of these so-called "boulders." The moment it struck, an odd thud was heard as the projectile bounced off a carapace-like material. The boulder hissed and fell to the dirt floor, scuttling back onto its feet and glaring at Kiara with glowing orange eyes. It was all too familiar to her.

"A Roach!" The purple hair woman snarled, moving down into her crouched fighting stance. But her new enemy wasn't alone. It let out an odd chattering noise and the entire side of the cliff came alive. One by one, more "boulders" dropped to the ground with a thump, only to reveal themselves to be more Roaches. Soon, Kiara found herself outnumbered in a 15 to 1 fight as she stared down what seemed to be the guardians of the crystal cave.

_Sis, what's happening?!_

_Kiara, what happened?!_

"I've found Roaches," Kiara replied plainly as she readied for combat. "And I'm going to assimilate them into the Swarm."

The first three in front of her decided to attack with acid and spat out globs of it. Kiara sidestepped the foul-smelling liquid and dashed in, her claws piercing the carapace and drawing blood. But the organic armor was tough, and the woman was taken off guard when the defending Roach reacted by slashing wildly with its two pincers on the side. A claw was immediately yanked out and redirected to catch the sharp edge of thin pincer. With a deft twist of the wrist, the pincer was broken and the Roach was now officially pissed.

But Kiara had spent too long on this one foe and another nearby Roach spat acid on her. The green liquid washed over her form, a slight burning sensation felt by Kiara as her membrane and carapace worked overtime in an effort to prevent the acid from burning into her actual skin. Zerg cellular defenses were really tough!

Seeing no other way, she pulled the other claw out and kicked backwards, staggering the flanking foe while pushing the other one over on its back. Its legs instantly lashed out in an effort to kick Kiara back, but one quick thrust into the exposed belly was more than enough to pierce the heart and bring the count down to 14 Roaches.

Aware now about the armor toughness and sharp pincers of the Roaches, Kiara's mind adapted and changed her fighting style. She couldn't simply take them down in droves like beforehand against the wolves. No, she needed to exert more power against every foe than she'd done before. Her gaze turned to the exposed head area of the creature.

The stunned Roach from before had recovered now and was about to rise when it felt something press against its head. Kiara's foot then pulled back and smacked forward, slamming into the skull of the Roach and instantly shattered it. "Once you're out of your armor, you guys aren't so tough!" She exclaimed, kicked the corpse away from her bloodied feet. "You still wanna fight?"

The creature screeched and attacked with more sprays of acid. Kiara quickly leapt into the air and watched as the projectiles accidentally hit other Roaches, causing them to hiss in anger as their armor notably burned green from the acidic fluids. That armor debuff was all she needed. Placing her center of gravity on her feet, Kiara's legs shot out and slammed downwards onto two of the affected Roaches, breaking through the weakened carapace and neck bones. Another two down!

Ugly number five rushed forwards and used its pincers in an effort to slash at Kiara. The Overmind dodged under the ineffectual blades and rammed a claw under the chin of the Roach, the fingers piercing through flesh and up into the jaw. It felt quite slimy and her hand suddenly burned as the acid pouch of the Roach's mouth burst open, splattering Kiara's hand in the toxic substance. However, as she pulled out of the mouth and examined her hand, the augmented Zerg carapace had held and now Kiara had an acid augmented claw. To test her theory, she leapt over to the next two Roaches preparing to charge in.

They were taken by surprised by the sudden counter attack and Kiara raked her acid-covered claw against the head of one of them. It screeched and collapsed immediately, the head smoldering green from the effect of the acid. The other Roach was similarly dispersed and only eight more Roaches were left standing.

By now, the acid on her claw had lost its potency and the female Overmind quickly calculated another takedown method. Snapping a pincer off the corpse of a nearby Roach, Kiara pulled back her arm and threw the sharp object at the nearest foe. It missed the intended target and skewered the Roach's feet instead, causing it to cry out in pain as it rolled to the side in pain. The purple woman then turned her attention to yet another charging Roach.

A powerful roundhouse kick swatted the creature off to the side, but Kiara caught the Roach's pincer at the last minute and swung it back, using the bulky body to bat off the next charging Roach. The carapace on her hands luckily protected her from the sharp edge of the pincer as the weapon slid out of her hand and the Roach slammed into the ground, lying dazed on its back as Kiara's hand shot out and finished the job. Another jab to the battered Roach in a similar position dealt with it as well.

The final remaining five Roaches actually figured out that this foe was too powerful to face in hand-to-hand combat, so they opted to spit acid all at Kiara at the same time. She was forced to leap back and suffer minor burn wounds on her legs from the splash, but it was better than being burned alive by the acid. After all, who would want to-

_Crunch_. Kiara's arm suddenly erupted in pain as a single pincer pierced her shoulder blade bone from the back and gone out through the front. She gasped in pain and turned just in time to see her arm bitten upon by a Roach. Where had that come from? Then she saw the limp in its legs and realized that it was the one she'd handicap with a throw! Why was it still moving?! Her eyes fell to the ground and spotted the orange crystals.

The crystals. "Dammit! Regenerative cells!" Kiara swore and placed all the weight on her legs, throwing her body forwards and thus, the Roach over. The thin pincer snapped in the forced movement and the Overmind felt the pain intensify thanks to the wound in her arm feeling the sudden cut. But she gritted her teeth, reached up, and howled as she yanked the pincer out the front, leaving a bloody hole in her shoulder as the offending weapon was tossed to the ground. If that had been used against her siblings…"YOU'RE ALL DEAD!" She screamed, launching herself forwards at the six Roaches that remain.

Or well, use to remain. They were practically shredded to bits as Kiara's claws slashed without warning, without hesitation, without pausing. The thicken armor melted like butter before the Swarm's might, unable to resist against the flurry of rage surrounding the Overmind. Even with her shoulder wound, nothing could stop Kiara from protecting those that she cared. As the final chunk of flesh fell to the ground, Kiara stood in the middle of the opening to the cave, panting as she wiped a smudge of Roach blood off her cheek.

"Scott, Alexis, send reinforcements _now_."


	9. VS Kraig

**Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft or its affiliates**

VS Kraig

**Day 6, Year 1**

The Zerglings arrived in force within the hour, alongside with a few Overlords and Scott. He looked exhausted as he entered the cave area despite using the Zergling gene to fast travel here. Perhaps he didn't receive the same pleasure she did from using it? Kiara noted it down as he rushed over, ignoring the crystals that lay scattered all around the purple hair woman.

"Kiara, are you alright?" Scott frantically asked, looking over his sister. She was still standing, that was good. "I felt through the connection that you've been hurt! Where's the wound?"

"I've healed it using these crystals," Kiara explained, gesturing to the dim crystals all around her and to a spot on her shoulder. It was a slight shade lighter than the membrane around it, indicating that some degree of accelerated natural recover had been used on it. "Unfortunately, I had to use all the ones outside just to patch up the skin. If we want to obtain some more, we're going to need to go inside."

_I'm all set up at the natural's Hatchery! _Alexis' voice chimed inside the Overminds' head. _I'll begin macro management and start large scale Zergling production at our two bases. More reinforcements will be arriving soon!_

"Thanks Alexis," The oldest sister thanked the youngest sibling, turning to her brother. "How many Zerglings do we have right now?"

"About 40, give or take a few."

"Let's start scouting the opening of the cave using what forces we have now. If anything happens, we'll just run out to meet the reinforcements."

"Sounds like a good plan."

The two cautiously peered forward into the mouth of the cave, their augmented eyes trying to pierce the utter darkness within. Even though orange crystals sprouted here and there from the walls, their glow was not enough to even remotely light the entirety of the dark opening. But they could see some sort of light source coming from within; could there be an even stronger concentration of crystals deeper within?

Without even needing to consult, Kiara went in first, her ears pricked and waiting for any sign of the abnormal. That and her sense of smell would be all that was good in this utter darkness, at least until they found a stronger light source. Scott quickly followed with the Zerglings slowly trailing behind, making sure that there weren't any Roaches waiting on the walls to ambush them.

They weren't waiting on the walls. They were waiting in the ground outside. Several loud thuds were heard as multiple Roaches erupted out of the dirt ground in front of the cave, sealing off the only exit out the crystal cavern with a well-placed ambush. Scott turned, swore, and ordered his Zerglings to quickly swarm them, dashing out of the cave to aid in the fight.

Then the Roach's acid targeted the rocks above the cave. With a few good spits, the material dissolved and the entire side of the cliff collapsed ajust s Scott emerged from the dark abyss. He shouted in surprise and pushed to the side, but a few shards of the rock hit his legs and he grimaced in pain. Kiara too was surprised by the sudden landslide but managed to throw herself backwards, avoiding the ricocheting shots. As she shakily got back on her feet, the realization came: she was trapped.

"Scott!" The woman shouted, coughing slightly as she tried peering through the cracks of the rocks that blocked the cave. "Hang in there!"

"I'm good!" The man yelled back, his back to the blocked cave entrance as he parried the lunging Roaches. He hissed in pain as acid spray hit his arm, ignoring the burning pain of his skin as he threw the spine and summoned a replacement. "Just wait there! I'll figure out a way!"

_You two, I'm rushing with reinforcements! Leave some for me will ya?_

The purple hair woman fell silent, her mind rapidly analyzing the developing situation. She, their best fighter, was stuck in the home of the Roaches. Scott and his rapidly depleting Zergling pack were trying to buy enough time to survive the ambush. Alexis was making her way quickly here with the reinforcements, but it would take some time.

The Roaches must have a leader if they organized this ambush so well. That meant…"I'm going to push into the cave," Kiara announced, turning back to the darkness. "I'll try killing the leader to reduce their will to fight!"

"What? No, it's dangerous to go alone!"

"It's our best shot!" Without waiting for her brother's argument, Kiara turned and ran into the crystal cave. There was no turning back now.

As she descended deeper into the hole in the cliff, Kiara discovered that only the opening of the cave was actually dark. The orange crystals condensed and grew larger as she walked, eventually resulting in a somewhat steady source of dim light for the female Overmind. But that wasn't the only thing she found in the cave.

Roaches were located everywhere within this cave system. More than a few times, Kiara was forced to defend and counterattack, slaying the offended Roaches to progress forwards. It was fortunate that the healing crystals were in abundance within this place; else her body would've been crippled severely when it was time for the boss fight. Every time she could, Kiara picked up one of the loose crystals and closed her eyes, absorbing the brief burst of energy into herself. It pleased her to note each time she did so, the energy burst was slightly greater than the last dosage.

During these fights, Kiara was able to note several phenomenal incidents where the Roach's regenerative abilities kicked into effect. It was chilling, yet exciting to see a popped eye become replaced with a new fluid-filled sac; a shattered jaw pull itself back together; a giant gaping wound in the body stitch itself up. There was no doubt that Roaches were superior in all forms of regeneration.

And the carapace! Countless fights and experimental blows to the organic armor of the Roach revealed a very pierce-resistant layer that protected the vital organs. One had to practically expend all their strength in order to just break the armor. However, it was quite vulnerable to blunt force trauma hits as all the carapace did was prevent the chance of breakage. A concentrated blunt blow would do more damage to them than many point hits.

This information was fascinating to Kiara, who soaked up the knowledge as useful battle tips. The regenerative ability could be countered by attacking repeatedly and not giving her foes a chance to heal up. The carapace would be trickier to circumvent, but some blunt blows to stun her foes should provide enough time for the female Overmind to stick a sharp claw into the Roach's heart in a gap of the carapace. If the boss was anything like a Roach, then Kiara was prepared to strike it down.

Well, she was half right.

The darkness and dim lighting suddenly gave way to blinding afternoon sunlight, causing Kiara to slightly hiss and shield her eyes with her arm as her pupils quickly adjusted. "Is there a night vision Zerg gene?" The purple hair woman muttered, realizing the disadvantage that switching from pitch-black darkness to brilliantly illuminated light.

As soon as her eyes finally adjusted, the Overmind took some slow steps forward and glanced around. She was now in a huge room, with a ridiculous abundance of large orange crystals sticking out of the walls. Itlooked as though the rocks piled up against the walls gave birth to these crystals, signifying the quantity of the rare regenerative material in here. A giant hole was the source of the afternoon sunlight, a gaping beak in the middle of the ceiling. That could be her way out of here!

_Bro, where's Kiara?!_

_She's gone deeper in the cave; she wants to defeat the Roach leader._

_Well, let's call over an Overlord then-_

_Watch it, that one's still alive!_

_ARGH!_

"Alexis?!" Kiara spun around suddenly, panicked by the sudden mental scream of pain echoing through her head. How could she be so careless? Bringing an inexperienced and ill-prepared Overmind to the battlefield was a horrible idea, especially since these Roaches seem to be able to ambush perfectly.

The room suddenly went dark as a giant object dropped down the hole in the ceiling. Reacting instinctively, Kiara kicked off the dirt ground and dashed backwards just as the large creature slammed onto center of the cavern, shaking the entire cave system from the heavy landing. As the female Overmind crouched and bared her claws, she looked upwards and saw an awfully familiar looking figure.

What looked like a Roach stood in front of Kiara, but it was easily the size of a Hatchery! Its beady orange eyes stared at the intruder from the husk of black carapace, its jaw salivating in thought of a meal. Large orange crystals stuck out of the monster's armor, giving it an aura of pure regenerative energy as it roared and slashed the ground using its tusks. Sharp needle-like legs sprouted out of the main body, but they served no other purpose besides propelling this beast forwards. There was no doubt that this was not going to be an easy fight, especially with those fangs.

_Intruder, I am Kraig! _A guttural psionic voice sounded in Kiara's mind. _You have sought your own demise for seeking combat with my pack!_

"We just wanted a sample of your crystals," The Zerg Overmind slowly explained. "If you could share with us the secret of your regeneration abilities, then no conflict would have to be resolved."

_Fool! _Kraig roared again and slammed its body onto the ground, obviously gearing up for an attack. _Our might can never be hoped to be imitated! Only through our long years of survival are we able to achieve this state of absolute immortality for me!_

"Ah, of course. The ability must have been developed via evolutionary methods," Kiara realized, before shaking her head in realization. "Then I must defeat you to obtain this ability for the Swarm!"

For a second, a hint of fear flashed through the monster's eyes before rage took over. _Your worthless Swarm shall never overcome me!_ With a final roar of anger, Kraig lowered its head and charged forwards.

Kiara easily dodged the attack and the giant boss slammed into the walls of the cave, breaking off crystals from the boulder as it roared in confusion. It was stunned! However, the impact of the beast upon the walls seemed to be a signal of sorts as Roaches rained down from the gap in the ceiling. They landed heavily on their legs and hissed, acid spitting out of their jaws.

To the female Overmind, she saw them nothing but mere nuisances now. Experience of combat against them has taught Kiara the most effective way of dealing with these minions, a simple focused blow to the windpipe area that would break bones under the hard carapace. And if that didn't work, the blunt force still stunned the Roaches long enough for Kiara to plunge a claw into the jaw and yank out the acid secretion pore, killing the beast and giving her a temporary buff to melee strikes.

Unfortunately, that was all in theory for an angry Kraig certainly changed things. While the violet hair woman dispatched a few of the Roaches, the large monster recovered from its misplaced attack and glared at the foe, switching to another attack. The crystals on Kraig's hide suddenly glowed and the beast lowered its body, aiming the sharp needle-like material towards the Overmind. Kiara noticed just in time and managed to yank up the body of a dead Roach upwards to cover herself as the crystals dislodged from the hide at extreme speeds, pelting the ground and corpse with orange clear rocks. The Roach's tough carapace saved Kiara here, as the armor stopped many of the crystals from piercing through the body.

It also blinded her sight, as she lowered the corpse to see Kraig lunging at her once again. Realizing that there was no way she could dodge to the side in time, Kiara opted to counter-lunge at Kraig, landing on his armored head just as it slammed into the cavern's walls. The impact caused her to stumble backwards slightly, but that would only aide her as the female Overmind kicked off and landed on the back of the monster.

Kraig immediately roared and new crystals sprouted out of the boss' hide, trying to impale Kiara with them. It was too easy for her to sidestep and twist around these dangerous organic spikes, which actually helped her as she realized the only way to actually hurt Kraig. She took a single step off the side and dropped, but grabbed a crystal that was sticking out of the side. With a few deft hand positions, Kiara found herself facing the side of the stunned beast. Pushing herself forwards, Kiara slid under the belly and raised her claws, scraping the exposed underside of Kraig and creating large gashes.

By the time Kraig finally regained his senses and slammed downwards with its body, the violet hair woman had nimbly made her way already to the other side and all the boss did was rub dusty dirt into the newly created wounds. That made the pain felt increase tenfold and the armored beast snarled. _Pitiful creature, you shall die!_

The female Overmind heard the thought just as she burst open an acid sac from a recently slain Roach, covering her claws in the potent liquid acid. "Not if you die first!" Kiara yelled, jumping forwards and pulling back her fist and slamming it directly onto the skull of Kraig.

As expected, the carapace buckled under the blunt force trauma and cracks appeared. It wasn't enough to actually break through the tough armor, but the cracks were what Kiara was looking for. The fluids that drenched her hand dripped down and poured down the newly created gaps; a straight path to the skull bone of the boss.

Its head suddenly in great pain, Kraig bellowed and bucked backwards, shaking the interloper on its back off with little effort. But with the same amount of effort, Kiara landed on her feet and kicked back, giving her sufficient room to take a breather. That was a mistake though.

Tusks suddenly slammed into her body and the violet hair woman grunted in pain as she flew through the air. The break had left her vulnerable to a charge from Kraig, which felt like getting hit by a truck the size of a house. He recovered remarkably quicker than expected. It must be those regenerative crystals kicking into effect. At least-

_Crunch_. As she slammed against something, Kiara suddenly felt her mouth become filled with some kind of fluid and she coughed it out. Blood. With a shaky hand, she reached down and felt a hard smooth material down at her abdomen. Looking down, her vision rapidly turning red, Kiara gasped for breath as she realized that Kraig had just impaled her on one of the orange crystals sticking out of the walls. "Oh," She weakly said before vomiting out a torrent of blood, falling limp. The boss immediately pulled back and turned around, looking over at the corpses of his fallen minions.

_You see! I am Kraig, the ultimate Roach!_ The crystalline monster roared, stomping its foot into the ground. _I cannot be stopped!_

After a few seconds later, the ground erupted as more Roaches arrived in triumphant. Kraig listened in psionically on their thoughts with glee. They had confirmed the destruction of the attacking foes and a fatal wound on one of the leaders. There was no way the attackers could ever hope to recover their losses in such a short time. Now Kraig was the undisputed ruler of the regenerative crystals!

As the beast and its subordinates roared again in triumph, Kiara's eyes snapped open and an unnatural snarl was heard by all in the cave, ceasing the celebration. Kraig fearfully took a step back as it watched the foe it had just fell grip the blood covered crystal impaling it. With a grunt of effort, Kiara snapped the material and pushed herself off the natural spike, landing on the dirt ground with both knees on the ground.

The hole in her abdomen then began to glow a vibrant purple color as the crystal gripped in the Overmind's hand grew brighter, shining through the thick layer of blood. Then, without warning, the crystal shattered, its shards all scattering outwards before being caught together by some psionic force. The orange light within then changed, shifting into the deep dark purple color that matched the glow in Kiara's wound before the shards dropped to the floor, used as the violet hair woman stood back up.

Her wound was gone. All the shattereed bones and torn flesh were repaired, to the point of where they looked to have never existed. "Now," Kiara snarled, flexing her claws and crouching. "Where were we?"

_Impossible!_ Kraig mentally bellowed, glancing around. _What are you doing?! Attack the foe you morons!_ Instead, all the Roaches simply stayed put, their eyes staring straight ahead with little focus.

_They are unsure of you._ Kiara grinned, her sphere of control flexing and expanding thanks to the new power unlocked from these crystals. _What's the matter Kraig? Aren't you the strongest in this room? Aren't you supposed to be the one they bow down to? Or…?_

_ENOUGH!_ The monster roared and charged forwards recklessly, giving little head to the Roaches as it knocked them to the side with no remorse. It expected Kiara to dodge the charge quite easily and braced for a hard crash against the wall.

But to its surprise, the female Overmind simply dug her feet into the dirt and raised her hands in response to the charging beast. As Kraig's tusks slammed into her, Kiara grabbed them and pushed hard in the opposite direction of the charge, effectively stopping the boss from running her into the walls. The two grunted and growled as they pushed against one another, trying to break through while the Roaches watched. _How is this possible?!_

_Instant evolution._ Kiara taunted, releasing a hand and pulling it back. _The unique thing about the Zerg is their ability to immediately assimilate anything into their DNA, especially in times of dire need for evolution. I prepared myself for this eventuality before meeting you by forcing my body to adopt the crystal radiation into a form of symbiosis. Now I have evolved into a form that can defeat you!_

The resulting punch contained the strength of a truck, slamming Kraig back as its cranium finally fractured from the force of the blow. Its back slammed into the cavern wall on the opposite side with a hard crack- that was the spine going out. Without any way to roll back on its legs, the smooth and healed underside was now vulnerable. That was all Kiara needed.

Letting out a final shout, Kiara leapt forwards and pulled back her claws, plunging them forwards just as she reached the exposed belly. The armor-less region was easily pierced by the sharp digits and the flesh gave way, the blood and vessels spurting out in orange color geysers. Organs were pierced through until finally Kiara tore her hands out, one of them gripping a still-beating heart, long blood vessels trailing from it into the gap of the belly. It moved rapidly, with minuscule orange shards sticking out at parts. That must've been what was giving Kraig its rapid regeneration.

A tight squeeze later, and Kraig was no more.

**Wow, that was quite a fight! But if you think this is alright, then wait till you see the anniversary celebration of the Terran Rebirth! Look out within the next day for something titled "What We Fight For!"**


	10. The Caverns of the Crystal Roach

**Disclaimer: I don't own Starcraft or its affiliates**

The Caverns of the Crystal Roach

**Day 6, Year 1**

Scott was on the verge on grabbing an Overlord, attaching Alexis onto it, and flying her back to the Hatchery. So what if they didn't have the Overlord carrier gene? His little sister needed a recovery pod now!

"Ngh…ngh…" Alexis groaned, obviously in pain as she lay on the ground, in too much of a serious condition to transport back to the Hatchery. Her membrane skin layer was half melted, exposing the pale skin underneath and her hair was singed at the edges. There were some severe burn marks on other parts of her body and that did not bode well, considering that there was no way Alexis could recover.

The ambushing Roaches had managed to spit a spray of acid towards the young girl, who could not take the hit like her siblings and was downed in a single hit. The two younger Overminds had been forced to pull back as their Zergling reinforcements were then utterly decimated by the Roaches. Speed may be their unit's specialty, but it was no match when trying to claw through the tough carapace of the Roach. Scott should've known, but instead he assumed the beasts were dead once surrounded by the swarm of Zerglings from Alexis. And once she was within range, they dropped the dead act and attacked.

His sharp hearing immediately picked up a scuttling noise and Scott's hands flicked, two spine knives appearing in his hand as the male Overmind held them defensively over his sister's body. "Who's there?!" He shouted, already getting ready to throw the spines.

The Roaches appeared from the undergrowth and Scott immediately threw the spines to them. However, as they are considered armored, all the spines did were stick to the carapace of the Roaches and slightly annoy them. The brown hair man cursed and summoned out another set of spines, planning to use them as knives instead. He could maybe try and take out-

_Hey, hey, don't kill them!_ A familiar voice sounded. Scott took a quick glance upwards and saw an Overlord lazily floating above him, projecting the psionic voice. _These are now our friends._

_Kiara? What the-? Never mind, did you escape the cave yet? Alexis needs help!_

_Let these Roaches escort you back safely and I can give you the fruits of my labor._

Seeing as there really wasn't an alternative, Scott reluctantly allowed his hands to relax and dropped the two spines to drop into the dirt ground. He leaned down and gently picked up his wounded younger sister, minding the Roaches as he walked forwards. The acid-spitting beasts immediately parted as the man came closer, allowing Scott to move into the center of their group before closing up the gap and marching along with their new master.

It was only a short walk back to the cave, but it felt like forever to the male Overmind. He was very much aware of the burden in his arms, as Alexis' eyes fluttered open and closed in a feverish state. Her body was slowly becoming hotter as the burnt skins and cells were still untreated, something that must be remedied soon.

To Scott's growing sense of panic, the boulders blocking the cave were still there when the group arrived at the crystal clearing. What was Kiara's plan?! She must surely know that the orange crystals weren't going to heal Alexis enough to the point of homeostasis-

Wait, the crystals were glowing…purple? _I found the source of the crystals and subdued it. Now they respond only to the Zerg Swarm alone, and they will give maximum healing. Place some on Alexis' wounds!_

"Alright…" Scott muttered, lowering and placing Alexis on the ground. He quickly looked around and snapped off some purple crystals sticking out of the ground, holding them just over the burned marks. They glowed and dimmed for a brief second, but that moment was just enough. The lost membrane rapidly grew back into place with the radiation provoking an accelerated form of recovery, covering the pale skin once again. Almost immediately, Alexis' breathing finally settled and fell into a calmer pacer. Scott let out a sigh of relief at the sight. "It actually 's great."

_How's the healing?_

"I'm going to definitely need more-" A chilling nudge was felt by his shoulder and the bare chested man turned to see a Roach right behind him. But it was in no threatening matter; rather, in its pincers was another purple crystal, held out like an offering to Scott. Gingerly, he took it. "Um…thanks?" The Overmind timidly replied, and to his great surprise, the Roach actually made some sort of _purring_ noise before backing away. "Well, that was weird."

_What was?_

"Oh, it was nothing. Let me quickly finish healing Alexis and we'll figure out a way to get to you."

O O O

"I'm wishing that I revived you after we get in!" Scott yelled, hanging onto the Overlord tendril for dear life and kicking his legs wildly. "Worst. Idea. EVER!"

"Are you kidding me? This is awesome!" Alexis replied with a wide grin on her face, laughing as she directed the flying creature upwards. The brilliant(?) idea had struck her immediately upon revival as a way to reach her sister quickly. Through Kiara's vision, the blonde and green hair girl could mentally see a huge hole in the ceiling, which in her mind, served as the entrance and exit out of the cave. A perfect plan!

Well, that was how Alexis imagined her brother would receive her idea. In reality…

"I SWEAR TO AMON ALEXIS, DON'T YOU DARE-!

"Bottoms up!" The girl laughed as she directed the Overlord the two were holding onto to make a sudden jolt in the air. To be honest, it wasn't very much of an aerial maneuver but the change in direction caught Scott off guard and he instinctively let go of the tendril.

Bad idea.

Screaming most certainly unmanly-like, the oldest brother tumbled in the air head over heels as a lack of solid ground caused major panic to flood through his body. He continued to yell and swear and curse as he fell through the hole, landing with a resounding thud inside the cave. The youngest sister giggled at the sight before letting go herself, falling downwards with her arms spread wide open. She enjoyed the downwards descent to the cave, letting her hair fly wildly in the wind.

Just as Alexis passed the hole, she made a quick flip backwards and had her feet facing towards the rapidly approaching ground. Immediately, her eyes glowed green as the psionic power within was simpered off via slight levitation powers. It wasn't much, but it allowed the blonde and green hair girl to land on the dirt ground gently as if gravity lost hold on her. "Sis, you're alright!" The youngest Overmind cheerfully noted, ignoring the dead body in the corner of the room.

"Hey, glad to see that you're back up and running," Kiara responded with a smile, stepping forwards and hugging her sister. "Your wounds healed?"

"Yep! There's barely any markings left!" The girl turned around, showing off her unharmed body. However, the older sister could spot the lighter marks in which the healing left early scars. Hopefully, the next time they could get into a recovery pod, the advanced Zerg cells could finally recover back up to their full potential. It seemed that these crystals weren't the end all of evolutionary healing.

At least, for now. But that's mainly because the Zerg just acquired this cache of them. There's no doubt that their special qualities will be examined to the fullest.

"What am I, bloody chopped liver?" Scott grumbled as he slowly got back up on his feet, brushing off the dirt that had gotten in his carapace plating. He reached upwards and quickly pulled back his hair, for it had gotten dislodged during the tumble down to the ground. "Next time, let's get that Overlord carrier gene first. Oh, and nice to see you well Kiara."

"I'm glad to see you unhurt as well. Thanks for taking care of Alexis."

"No problem. So, how do we get out?"

"I haven't the slightest clue."

"….Beg pardon?"

"I thought you guys would be the ones finding another entrance!"

"What, no! Alexis just dropped us here without any other plan!"

"Well, I don't think that Overlord isn't going to fly through that whooping big hole in the ceiling!"

"How come so?"

"Cause there are some very pointy rocks over there that will puncture the air sacs if it tries to go through!

"Those aren't very sharp!"

While her two siblings bickered for a bit, Alexis giggled and sat on the ground, sitting cross-legged as she watched the older siblings fight uselessly. After a few minutes of watching each other spew pointless arguments or disagreements, the youngest sister shook her head and closed her eyes, placing a finger against her temple as her sphere of influence activated. She maneuvered with surprisingly surgical precision, able to circumnavigate her sibling's minds to avoid alerting them to her power usage.

As her mind expanded, she soon found out that the crystals were teeming with psionic energy thanks to the Zerg infestation and could use them much like Overlords, amplifying her range to ludicrous levels of range controlled. Her mind encompassed the entire cave system with little effort thanks to the crystals located around, giving her psionic sensitivity over the area.

Then, in her mind's eye, she felt something. A complex mind like no other lurked within the heart of this cave system, but it felt nonthreatening in a way. It barely reacted as Alexis' mind made contact, yet it didn't immediately submit to her as she tried poking a bit. It had to have an independent and aware mind if it could resist her advances, the blonde and green hair girl realized. But it didn't retaliate and simply existed there, blocking Alexis from forcefully entering.

Taking a quick glance at her still arguing siblings, the girl decided it was best to investigate this alone. Kiara and Scott's arguments were known to last sometimes for hours at end, especially if both were aggravated by something like a recent fight. In this case, Alexis' tactic of dropping down the hole may be the catalyst, and if so, this fight was going to go on for some time.

Moving slowly and quietly, Alexis got up off the ground and made her way over to the entrance to the cave system located at the edge of the large cavern. It was barely visible as it was covered the large corpse of Kraig, but the young girl was small enough to squeeze past the body and enter the winding cave system. From there on out, she was alone.

But in a way, she was perfectly safe. The crystals acted as her guides, the mental acuity inside the girl sharp and strong enough to utilize them to their full potential. Kiara and Scott may not realize it, but these regeneration crystals were born of psionic power, meaning that they could never die out as long as a psionic-sensitive presence was nearby. They were like parasites but in a harmless way, piggybacking off other psionic creatures as a way to spread the crystalline radiation far and wide.

That host creature must've been the Roach, as Alexis found dozens of them slumbering in the cave systems. They were already subjugated to the Swarm's will, so the most they did was crack a lazy eye open and close as their Overmind ruler passed by. Alexis found it a rather adorable sentiment and would give them a quick pet, inciting a low growl of satisfaction from the Roaches as she made her way deeper into the caves.

As she neared what must be the heart of the caves, Alexis found an odd sight: a hot water spring underground. She cautiously approached it and spotted several Roaches lying in it, most of them still as they soaked in the hot water. The blonde and green hair girl slowly dipped a hand into the water and immediately hissed, yanking it back. "Yow, that's hot!" She exclaimed, frowning slightly. "How is it this hot so deep underground…?"

"Located near lava pocket. Heats water up to intolerable temperatures. Kills everything but toughest specimens."

O O O

"I'm telling you, you are a colossal idiot!" Kiara shouted, crossing her arms and turning away with a huff. Seriously, the nerve of her younger siblings! Wait…

"Well, why don't you just take one of these crystals and shove it up your-"

"WHERE IS ALEXIS?!"

**A/N: Friendly reminder people! If you haven't already, please check out "What We Fight For," a special one shot made in honor of one year of the Rebirth! And also, vote on the poll on my profile on what one shot you guys want me to do next for the holidays!**


	11. Arthogious

**Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft or its affiliates**

Arthogious

**Day 6, Year 1**

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

"I DON'T BLOODY KNOW! IT'S NOT LIKE THERE'S A SELECT ALL UNITS BUTTON OR SOMETHING!"

"YOU IDIOT!" Kiara's open hand slapped against the back of Scott's head and he flinched, shivering slightly as he just realized how much creep he'd just stepped into. "Well, what are you waiting for?! Use your mental sphere to seek out her mind via the psionic crystals!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" The man gritted his teeth as he tried focusing on the purple glowing crystals, but he failed to even remotely pierce the mental mind was mysteriously blocking it. It felt oddly familiar. "Dammit, I think Alexis is locking us out of the system! We need to find her physically then!"

"Does it look like I know how this blasted cave system goes? I barely scraped the surface when getting to Kraig!" The fire in the purple hair woman's eyes slowly faded away as she placed a hand on the walls, obviously fretted by the disappearance of her sister. There was little she could do to help with Scott's predicament, especially considering that her own psionic powers were weak. "There's an uncountable amount of Roaches located within these caves- what if we missed some in the subjugation process? We both know Alexis isn't the greatest in fighting."

"She'll be fine. We have what could be considered a small army of Overlords providing synaptic augmentation to the numerous beings below. There's no way that any Roach can escape the psychic domination we have placed in the area."

"That's not exactly a relief considering that she could potentially encounter a hazard we don't know about. Is there any way we can find her without sacrificing too much time?"

"…maybe. But I'm not too sure about this method, I really don't understand it. You've heard of sonar, right?"

"Of course. The use of sound waves to construct a mental map of the surrounding area. Bats are just one of the many popular examples of animals that use this. But we can't imitate that in any way, our ears are way too insensitive even as infested humans."

"Yeah, but I'm thinking we use another form of sonar- psionic sensitivity." Scott clapped his hands together and closed his eyes, opening them once they glowed a neon blue color. Kiara could feel her brother sending out light pulses of psionic power, sending them through the caves around them. His range wasn't far, but it was enough to cover all possible angles and his mental acuity was sharp enough to finally pick up a clue as to Alexis' position. "I can sense her psionic trail! This way!"

The two siblings immediately made their way into the vast cave system, losing their bearings within the first few minutes as they stumbled around in the dim light. But that matter not, for Scott could still feel which path their younger sister took as she descended deeper into the labyrinth of crystals. That alone was more than enough to account for the lack of a map or proper direction bearing.

As they walked, Kiara occasionally received flashes of information from the Roaches they passed on the way down. They projected the sensation of a gentle pat on their heads into the female Overmind's mind, a feeling that could have been given by Alexis. She definitely came this way to get to the heart of this massive rock system.

"Geez, it's really heating up in here," Scott complained as they stumbled down a steep slope of rocks, the male Overmind visibly sweating profusely. "I'm guessing we're somewhere with a lot of hot gas pressure."

"Really?" Kiara tilted her head, obviously confused by the sudden supposed temperature change her brother was feeling. "I'm not feeling anything. If anything, it is slightly warmer, but not by a significant amount. Are you feeling alright?"

"You kidding me? It's a freaking sauna in here!" The brown hair man complained as the two entered yet another cave. "What is it, sulfur gas?"

"It's just natural earth heat bro," A familiar voice answered.

"Magma is source of discomfort. Unavoidable reaction when opposite element," An unfamiliar voice added.

"Alexis!" The oldest sibling shouted with relief. Immediately, Kiara rushed over and hugged her little sister while Scott stayed at a distance, mindful of the other organism in the room. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?!"

"Sis, I'm fine!" The young girl laughed, returning the hug with a tight squeeze. "I just got tired watching you two bicker and wandered off to find something new. And I did find someone cool!"

"A creature much like Abathur." Scott's eyes narrowed as he scanned the discovered creature, making note of the still Roach bodies in the hot pool behind it. The creature was built much like a slug but had an actual spine, for its front was able to push itself off the ground without any aide from limbs. Its small face consisted of a gaping mouth and several beady glossed eyes, a mere indent in its body's surface. Two thin and stick-like arms stuck out from the sides, accompanied by two more stick-like limbs from the same source but had green-fluid filled sacs instead of bony fingers. "Who are you?"

"Name irrelevant," The creature responded with a surprisingly deep baritone, placing its hands together in a mock bow to Scott. "If must know, am called Arthogious. Evolution master, genetic manipulator."

"Well, I must thank you for finding Alexis for us. It seems that your timing could not have been more perfect."

"Merely attracted to foreign psionic presence. Intrigued by new leader of Roaches. Kraig defeated, meaning that Arthogious without master."

"Kraig was your master?" Kiara asked as she gently let go of her younger sister and turned to the monster, her eyes searching for any sign of deception in those beady eyes. "What did you do under his control?"

"Advanced genome sequencing. Added healing genes to Roach DNA, allowed for rapid regeneration." To demonstrate, Arthogious spread out its hands and a holographic orange DNA strand appeared in its hands, rotating slowly. Using its precise and bare hands, the creature picked carefully at the DNA in its hands, showing that it could influence various sequences in the strand before the representation disappeared. "Am also responsible for Roach production. Used Hatchery in adjacent room."

"There's a Hatchery down here?" Scott asked with surprise. His younger sister nodded in confirmation, sending him a psionic picture of the brief glimpse she got of the Zerg base. To his surprise, it was indeed a Hatchery! But it was different in some aspects. For one, it was way smaller, due to the fact it needed to be able to squeeze into the small heart cave in the rock system. There were multiple unnecessary spires stretching upwards to the ceilings from the main body, a needed evolution to be able to generate enough creep for its larvae. It would appear that the current Hatchery outside and the Hatchery here could be-

"Correct," Arthogious said, noticing the brooding expression on the male Overmind's face. "Roach Hatchery and standard Hatchery are divergent evolutions. Lack of sunlight and proper spacing encouraged reverse evolution. Expected that Roach Hatchery to disappear in favor of standard form. Much more elegant and less complex, is evolutionary superior. Zerg original genes proven victorious."

"Hold on a second here. Are you saying that you believe the Zerg Swarm to be the better species?" Alexis asked, slightly tilting her head as she laced hands behind her back. "Are we going to be able to win this game?"

"Answer unsure. Not enough sequencing gathered to declare Zerg dominance. Additional data is required. But," The monster paused and waved a hand at the three Overminds, its eyes piercing through flesh and seeing the DNA within their cells. "Zerg Leaders possess unique DNA sequencing. Never before emerged in biological clock. Able to instant evolve, able to fight, able to survive. Fulfills requirements for Swarm leadership. Possess great strength, physically and mentally. Suggested path: subjugation of world."

"….can I just translate that to world domination? Yeah, I think that'll do!" The young girl walked up to Arthogious and stuck out her hand, the beast looking oddly at the outstretched handshake. "C'mon, what say you? We're going to need that mind of yours to take over this world! "

After staring at the hand for a few seconds, Arthogious simply nods its head and turns away, obviously not into making formal handshakes of agreement. Alexis huffs and crosses her arms as a result, but one could easily tell from the smile breaking out on her face that she was pleased. Her two older siblings observed the exchange with a small prideful grin, watching their little princess gain the Swarm their first independent-mind leader.

However, just as quickly, Scott stepped forward and took control of the situation. "Alright Arthogious, can you show me your Hatchery? I'll take a few Drones from it and share with you the necessary genes that make up the birth of a standard Hatchery."

"Request understood. Follow." The creature turned and began to slither, moving its lower body in a fashion that again resembled a snail. Scott followed closely and Alexis skipped along, ecstatic about her success. Only Kiara stayed behind in the hot room, her interest piqued by the Roaches in the pool with boiling water.

The extremely hot liquid barely bothered the female Overmind as she walked along the pool, droplets splashing out here and there through the popping bubbles. The purple hair woman slowly approached one of the still Roaches that was bathing in this pool and gently placed her hand on it. With a gentle shove, the body fell over in the water and its bright red underside was revealed. Multiple germ colonies could be spotted in its lower openings, a sign that there were bacteria trying to escape the hot water by spreading onto flesh. As Kiara lowered the body back to its place, some of the pool's fluids splashed against the colonies and the sound of burning flesh was heard as they raptured and burst, unable to withstand the temperature.

The Roaches had been cooked alive for experimentation.

O O O

**Day 7, Year 1**

"Okay, this is looking good!" Scott sighed with relief as the Hatchery finally completed, spewing fluids everywhere as creep spread began. After spending a night wandering through the cave system, the Overminds and Arbogious had managed to find a way back up to the cavern in which Kraig's body laid. There, a modified Drone from the Roach brood was ordered to set up a standard Zerg Hatchery by using Kraig's body as its first meal. The placement for this base was ideal, for the complex rock system itself was a defense mechanism that would serve well as both an area to confuse attackers and an area of growing. There was only one real apparent entrance and that was accessible to only the most nimble of flyers (or freefalling Overminds).

But that still left the problem of getting out of here. After all, the Swarm hasn't unlocked any flying units besides the Overlord yet! If there was no way out, then this base was utterly useless as all Zerg units produced would be trapped in the cave systems.

That's where Arthogious stepped in. "You are sure this is safe?" Scott asked timidly, eying the evolution pod in front of him. It looked identical to the recovery pod due but had an orange coloring to it instead, signifying the importance of such a biological structure. Like the recovery version, it was generated by creep at the command of Arthogious, who had been already assimilated into the system psionically.

"Will add necessary genes. Allows for burrow mechanic," The monster explained, fluids spitting out of its mouth without any reason. "Will be clean fix. Adding additional strength to move rocks is ugly, will complicate sequence. Best solution to situation."

"But why me?" The male Overmind protested. "Why am I the guinea pig? I don't want you screwing around with my body chemicals just to see if I grow wings or something! Though getting a venom cannon would be cool…"

"Don't worry bro, I'll make sure he doesn't get out of control!" Alexis giggled, amused by her older brother's discomfort. She waved in assurance at the pod and promised, "Arthogious wouldn't dare dream of doing anything around me!"

"I doubt that," Kiara muttered under her breath and out of earshot, her eyes slits on her face as she glared at the harmless looking creature. "I'll be the judge of that."

"Fine, fine, I'll trust you. Don't go poking around my body now!" With that, Scott stepped in and the pod sealed up, orange fluid rapidly being secreted into the container as the Overmind within shut off his mind and became limp. He was now asleep.

Without any barriers now, Arthogious went to work, drawing strands of DNA from the outside of the pod and twisting them into different yet similar forms. Sometimes, it would dab its fingers into the fluid-filled sacs sticking out of its sides and slather the genetic material on the DNA, activating various innate sequences within the Zerg Overmind's DNA strand. There was no doubt that this beast knew what it was doing.

Alexis watched with close fascination as it re-spun her brother's genetic code, the young girl finding herself memorizing the exact movements that Arthogious was displaying. There was so much potential in the DNA she saw! A gene to fly, a gene to heal, a gene to freeze, a gene to ignite, a gene to cast lightning! The Zerg Swarm truly was magnificent!

But while the youngest sibling was enthralled by the work, Kiara sidled up to Arthogious' side and noted the near-bored expression on its face, as if this was menial work. She frowned slightly and used a part of her mental powers to attempt a poke at its mental barriers. To her surprise, they crumbled easily and she was able to glimpse at what the monster was thinking.

It wasn't so surprising though, when she learned it wanted to twist Scott's genes out of recognition and to see what the results were. _Don't you dare_, Kiara's mental voice echoed through the beast's mind. _I will strike you down here and now if you do not follow every one of my commands._

_Understood. Will heed warning for future reference._

_I MEAN it._

…_Understood._


	12. Armor Up!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft or its affiliates.**

Armor Up!

**Day 10, Year 1**

With Arthogious' abilities, the burrow gene within the Zerg genome was activated and all Zerg units became able to burrow into the ground anywhere. This applied to the Overminds as well, which begs the question: how does burrowing work? In the games, a button was clicked and all Zerg units in question would simply pop into the ground. Real life didn't work that way though. as actual effort was needed to dig the ground.

To demonstrate, Scott took in a deep breath and leapt up into the air, placing all his body weight downwards as he plummeted back down onto the ground. But instead of landing on crouched legs, the male Overmind kept his legs straight and that resulted in his body piercing a thick layer of dirt, depositing him in a very, very, very shallow and small tunnel. He could barely fit in it! His breathing and heart rate started to accelerate rapidly thanks to this sudden confinement and lack of space.

That's where the burrow gene kicked in. Slowly but surely, Scott's body forced itself to calm down and return to homeostasis. Additionally, the psionic mind suddenly formed a mental map of the tunnel system, seeing where the various paths led to and where Scott would emerge if he were to push upwards and burst out of the ground. As explained by Arthgoius, these tunnels were made by Roaches for Roaches- however, it was highly possible for anything else with the burrow gene to use them for the same purpose.

Using this new gene, the three Overminds were able to escape the Roach's cave system using their minion's transport tunnels. "Finally out of there!" Kiara exclaimed as she popped out of the ground, landing gracefully on her feet as the hole collapsed in on itself behind the woman, leaving no trace of such burrowing going on. That could come in handy for stealth. "It feels good to be out in the open again!"

"I'm glad to be out of there as well," Alexis commented as she eagerly waited for her sister to brush the dirt off her body. "I need to get back to the main Hatchery to start Roach production out here! We finally have armored and heavier units that we can use out on this world now!"

"Indeed. These Roaches will serve as effective tanks against any heavier foes our forces may encounter," Scott thoughtfully said as he stretched, getting ready for the run back to the natural's base. "Combined with our recent acquisition of the burrow gene, we now have a force capable of stealth if need be."

"Addition: burrow allows fast travel for all." Arthogious had followed the three out of the caves, insisting that it needed to examine outside wildlife to determine any possible sources of evolution. So far, from what Kiara could tell, it was telling the truth about the curiosity. "Zergling, innately great speed overland. Burrowing, allows rapid mobilization of forces. Can travel base to base in short time, not comparable to Zergling overland however."

"Alright, so we can now transfer units from far away in reasonable time periods. Why only base to base? How about just out of the ground in the battlefield?" Scott asked.

"Travel speed too extensive. Unit cannot preserve enough energy to fight if travel route is interrupted."

"Okay, so let's start having Roaches begin digging out tunnels to connect our bases. Alexis?"

"Already on it bro!" Her eyes closed, the blonde and green hair girl hummed as she mentally commanded the two outside bases under their control to begin spawning Roaches. Overlords were also ordered to be made, as more synaptic control was needed over Roaches than Zerglings. But then, she sensed a possible danger approaching one of the bases. "Um, guys, there appears to be some feral wolves approaching our drone lines. Somebody's going to need to intercept them, and I can't cause I'm going to be busy with macro for a while."

"I can do it." Scott whistled and the surviving pack of Zerglings from the initial fight emerged from the undergrowth outside the sealed cave, swarming around the male Overmind as they awaited orders. The brown hair man turned and gave a brief nod to his sisters before taking off, disappearing into the undergrowth with his loyal followers trailing behind. Now, it was only Kiara and Arthogious without jobs.

But already, the monstrous creature was slithering off into the undergrowth, interested in the various fauna and flora within. Seeing potential troublemaking coming from Arthogious if unchecked, the purple hair woman sighed and followed closely. There was no way she would leave this creature unsupervised in the presence of Alexis.

O O O

**Day 16, Year 1**

"One, two, three! One, two, three!" Kiara chanted as she and Scott fought each other in a training session. The male Overmind gritted his teeth and followed in rhythm, practicing his melee combat skills. His sister, despite days of practice, was still better than him! How was this possible?

Eventually getting frustrated beyond belief, Scott broke off with a sudden backflip and threw his spines, trying to hit his sister in a show of skill. The woman merely sighed at the movement and dodged the thrown projectiles with ease. "Honestly, you let your anger sometimes get the better of you. That's not good in your case."

"You get enraged all the time and kick ass when in that state! Why can't I imitate it?!"

"Because your role is more of a mediator rather than a berserker," Kiara explained as she calmly twisted and twirled to avoid her brother's attack with little effort. Her eyes briefly flashed purple every so often as her psionic mind rapidly calculated the projectile's path and ordered her body to dodge with lightning fast movements. "You need to be calm even during danger, even when everybody else is riled up or panicking. Only then can you-" With several swift foot motions, she traversed the space in between them in a blur, appearing before her brother with a carapace claw against his neck. "-unlock your full potential."

His breath hitched as Scott felt the dangerously sharp digit press against his membrane-exposed throat. Immediately, his spine knives dropped to the floor as he realized he had been defeated. "Argh…I guess you're right. Just need to control my temper, that's all."

"You're getting better at it. You lasted a few more minutes longer than last time we sparred."

"A few more minutes can make the difference in a battle."

"That's the Scott I know." With swift motion, Kiara took away the claw and Scott let out a huge sigh in relief. "You know the golden rule?"

"Practice." The man gave a grin and crouched in combat stance again, two new spines appearing in his hands. "You ready?"

"Always."

"Hey you guys!" The two paused in their battle preparations and turned to see their younger sister waving eagerly at them as she approached. Arthogious was right besides here, slithering in a rather satisfied manner as the two approached the two. "I see you two are still battle crazy! I need to tune up my combat skills as well one of these days."

"We're the ones responsible for protecting you Alexis," Scott explained as he let his spines again drop into the creep, not really caring about the cells that reacted underneath. "If anything attacks us, Kiara and I are the ones who need to be out on the front lines. You need to stay behind us, because unlike us, you are unable to tank any direct hits to your body."

At this explanation, the young girl childishly stuck out her tongue in a definite manner. But it was only a joke and the three siblings found themselves laughing at the immature gesture, unable to control their still growing emotions. To be honest, Kiara found herself pleasantly enjoying the brief moment of family time, a lax in the seriousness that was commanding a race destined to consume the galaxy.

Of course, it was Arthogious who interrupted the moment. "Advancement in Zergling genome," The creature announced triumphantly, pressing its bony hands together in a show of satisfaction. "Successful assimilation of Roach gene into Zergling DNA. Codes for thicker, tougher armor segments."

"Is that just a fancy way of saying that you took Roach armor and stuck it onto Zerglings?" The purple hair woman smiled as she watched Arthogious swell with indignation at the accusation. Ah, how she loved those who were vain!

"Outrageous!" The creature spat, trying so hard not to turn away in a fit of anger. "Coding complex, requires much delicacy and work! Insult to personal work!"

"Easy, easy, I'm sure sis meant nothing by it." Alexis' voice seemed to soothe the genetics master and the monster merely crossed its arms in a gesture of dissatisfaction. "So you toughened up our Zergling's armor? May we see it?"

"Specimens present." With a wave of its hand, multiple Zerglings popped out of the ground around the group, all of them patiently awaiting their next command as the Overminds examined them. Indeed, in place of the normal and somewhat weak carapace armor that Zerglings once bore, these specimens had armor segments that resembled those wielded by Roaches. Kiara experimentally rapped her hand against one such piece and found them to be surprisingly deceiving; compared to real Roaches, this armor still wasn't very strong. "Zergling unable to accommodate heavy weight while maintaining speed. Max armor with max speed optimization," Arthogious explained, sensing the confusion in its masters' thoughts.

"Well, I guess it was a little too much to ask for super-fast Roach equivalents," Scott remarked, rubbing his chin in thought. He could already see how these variations of Zerglings could be useful in the battlefield, an effective counter to armored range units. They could dart in using their remarkable speed, tank whatever projectiles the foes were flinging, and tie up the ranged units in combat long enough for heavier infantry to arrive and take over the fight. Or… "Is it possible for you to augment Roaches with Zergling speed? I know that we can't make them go as fast as Zerglings, but it would be nice for them to be able to dart in and out quicker, especially if they need to withdraw to regenerate."

"Will look into Roach strand. Will determine upgrade capacity." However, instead of slithering off, Arthogious looked at all three Overminds and made an additional announcement. "Zergling armor breakthrough spurred additional discovery. Overmind now capable of using Roach armaments."

"Woah, really?" Kiara jerked in surprise, her eyes widening at the possibility of better armor for her family. "That's a thing? Okay, that should be great!"

"We could take more hits than normal, and that would be especially helpful in the case of Alexis," The brown hair sibling realized. "She would, instead of being a glass cannon, be a potential last-push unit for us and that is saying something considering that her attacks are powerful."

"That's sounds awesome!" Alexis cheered, then her smile was wiped off her face in realization. "Guys, the problem isn't my ability to take hits. Rather, it's my stamina: I lack physical energy and make up for that in mental energy. Even with armor, I don't think I can last long on the battlefield before collapsing out of exhaustion: heck, the armor would actually tire me out quicker!"

"Stamina is problem. Will seek to remedy genetic defect in future. Additionally, armor upgrade for all three is impossible."

"What?" The three Overminds chorused in confusion.

"Genetic coding for gene is exclusive to species. Result: only one of three Overminds may express the gene at the same time." Arthogious looked almost smug as he clasped his hands together in a rather devious manner. "Thus, must decide among leaders who receive a specific gene. Additionally, specific genes cannot coexist with others. Now, decide."

Kiara turned and glared at the plotting creature, fully knowing that this mechanic was meant to create discord and conflict among the three siblings. Arthogious met her glare with an equal look of satisfaction, letting her know that this was payback for her earlier statement. She sighed slightly in exasperation and turned to her confused siblings. "Okay, only one of us can use the armor gene at a time. Question is, who?"

"…I'll admit, I think that getting the upgrade doesn't really benefit me." Alexis hung her head and stepped back from the group, indicating her withdrawal from the potential candidates. "You two should receive it. I can just wait for a better gene upgrade to come along, like maybe increased synapse!"

"Well then, it's just me and you." Scott turned to his sister and the two looked at each other. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"A way to solve this problem? Our traditional method?"

"Yep." With a flick of his hands, spines appeared in Scott's hands and he crouched down, twirling his knives in anticipation. "You ready?"

Kiara grinned and crouched down as well, stretching out with her arms with her claws flexed. "Ready!"

"Oh, here we go!" Alexis clapped her hands in glee as she took another few steps back, watching on with eagerness. She caught Arthogious' confused gaze and quickly explained. "We solve things between us with a good old fistfight! Here, nothing's changed! Let's rumble!"

**A/N: Heya guys! Again, I thank you for the continuous support you've all given this series. It's amazing how far this story has come now!**

**Anyway, I have an idea to propose. Bear with me, it may sound a little radical and perhaps outlandish, but I would like to set up a Rebirth forum for chat, Q&A, and RPing. What do I mean by that last one? Well, I've been playing around this idea, and I think that if I can gather enough support from you guys, I would like to create a RP game much like DnD or Dark Hersey, but using mechanics from the Rebirth! If you guys think that it's a good idea and would be interested if I created something like that, let me know! Again, thank you for all the support for the series and don't forget to leave a review for support!**


	13. Raptor Wings

**Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft or its affiliates.**

Raptor Wings

**Day 16, Year 1**

"And Big Sis is the winner!" Alexis announced with a raised hand, gesturing to the slightly panting purple hair woman. Kiara flashed a grin and straightened up from her combat stance, wincing slightly as the spines imbedded in her limbs dug into flesh. "She'll be getting that fancy new armor gene! Sorry bro, but better luck next time!"

"No…problem…urk." The male Overmind was lying down on the ground, multiple scratches crisscrossing his body in bloody lines. Scott groaned as he tried lifting himself upwards, only to fall back as his legs were still knackered from Kiara's kick. It especially ached in his loins. "I'm taking…a day of break kay?…Why'd you have to kick me there!"

"One of the basic rules in fighting: take advantage of whatever weakness your foe has," Kiara explained before switching to a sympathetic voice and adding, "To be fair, that was a little dirty. I'll make it up to you somehow."

"Dibs on next gene if Alexis doesn't want it." With that, the creep around the fallen man rose up and covered his body, encasing him in the recovery pod of the Overminds. Hopefully, the healing fluids within could soothe his pain, pride, and manhood. Unlikely for the last two, but who knew?

Letting out a deep yelp of pain, Kiara yanked out one of the many spines imbedded in her limbs and dropped it as though it was on fire. "Damn, that hurts!" She hissed, reaching for another one and gritting her teeth in pain. "How the hell can he not cut himself with these things?!"

"His spines have these minute groves on them that allow for high velocity throws while reducing air friction and boosting sharpness," Alexis explained. "His hands are coated with the same material pattern on the carapace, which allows for Big Bro to hold them without risk of cutting his own hands off. You need something like a metal glove to hold them properly else."

"Since when did you become an expert on physics?"

"About the same time you became Sarah Kerrigan."

"Fair point." The oldest of them all looked at her still-spine riddled arms and sighed. "I'm going to have to use a recovery pod to fix myself up if I want to be combat ready within reasonable time. Don't do anything stupid without me or Scott okay?"

"Okay!" After securing her sister's promise, Kiara closed her eyes and allowed the creep to surge up around here, encompassing her body in a green pod of recovery. From there, it would take at least a full day to heal up all her injuries and adjust her body with the new armor gene. And with Scott gone… "Arthogious!"

"Command?"

"You said earlier that you had something lined in the way of an evolution mission right?" Alexis slightly tilted her head, looking rather much like a child asking for candy from a store clerk. "Well?"

"Queen of Blades instructions: no risk."

"Queen of Blades? My sister?" Now, the blonde and green hair girl had a disgusted look on her face as she blatantly recalled Starcraft lore. "No way in hell is she the Queen of Blades!"

Arthogious looked at Alexis with an odd look, as if wanting to pick her apart. "Comparison exists? Queen of Blades title composed recently. Named for sharp claws. Explanation?"

The youngest Overmind quickly realized her mistake and recognized the problem. _This isn't Abathur, this is Arthogious! Not the same creature remotely!_ "What I mean to say is, um, I...I…"

"Sporadic brainwaves. Elevated heartbeat. Symptoms indicate conflicted mental processing."

"I…don't like Kiara having the name! I should have it!" Alexis blurted out, then pressing her hands over her mouth dramatically as she hid her instinctive mischievous grin of lying. "C'mon, I like that name way better!"

"…Suggested name is Princess of Blades." The young girl blinked in shock as she noticed how somewhat curbed the creature's voice had become. "Synergy within Overmind naming system ."

"Wow Arthogious…you have a knack for naming stuff!" She said with a surprised look on her face. "I guess that if you have to create new Zerg units, you gotta come up with a suitable name for them. Princess of Blades huh? I like it better than Queen then!"

"Adopt name officially?"

"Of course!" Alexis beamed, imagining it being written in something like a history book. Alexis, the Princess of Blades! "Hey, what's my brother's?"

"Under revision. Unsure."

"Well, Prince won't work. It doesn't ring well." The girl tapped her chin in thought before her eyes lit up with revelation. "Oh! How about 'Lord of Blades?'"

"Will consider. Currently, must acquire new genome. Waiting for Queen of Blades for mission."

"I'll take up the evolution mission in her stead! What are we getting for our first upgrade?"

"Speed."

O O O

**Day 17, Year 1**

While being stealthy never really was a survival requirement in her past life, Alexis was very good at it. Back on Earth, she often had to sneak to the kitchen in the middle of the night and avoid alerting anybody about her presence. Somebody had to eat the last cookie in the jar, and it sure as heck wasn't going to be Scott!

The experiences she had while performing this devious task paid off, as the girl crouched and concealed herself in the undergrowth. Her glowing green eyes were the only concern she had about stealth, but it was necessary for a psionic link to be established in order to communicate with the Overlords and Arthogious. Together, the three were able to establish a mental map of the area without alerting any wildlife about their psionic wandering.

Just barely out of the undergrowth was a giant cliff edge that led down to a valley covered in rocks of varying sizes and shapes. They were scattered around in a rather haphazard formation, and, due to their variety, often had several sharp jagged miniature cliffs. This continued all the way up into the wide cliff faces that surrounded the valley, giving rise to climbable ledges if one had a powerful enough push.

Upon consideration, Alexis realized that it was most similar to that of the Roach caverns, but it a reverse form. Perhaps something moved all the materials from this valley to form the crystal caves, which were only a few miles away. But that was something else to think about for another day. Geography wasn't that important now; the main concern is the Raptors scurrying around down below.

Slightly smaller than a Zergling, these creatures nearly resembled in every way the equivalent of the dinosaur-Raptor back on Earth. They were small, nimble, and had small arms with an orange and green skin pattern. Their beady eyes nervously glanced around as they leapt from rock to rock, in search for any prey that may have wandered down into the valley. Flimsy looking wings sprouted from their backs, serving not much of a purpose all things considering.

As Alexis felt her Zergling pack settle down in the undergrowth surrounding the cliff edges, Arthogious spoke using the mental connection. "_Raptors. Indigenous creature. Feed off cellulose below rocks. Valley floods regularly. Raptors unable to swim_."

In her mind's eye, the youngest Overmind could feel Arthogious projecting a brief summary of the event. It would appear that this valley right above a spring source, one that possibly was linked to the one in the Roach caverns. Alexis watched as small spurts of water grew and gave way to a torrent of water, absolutely covering the entire dent in the geography with a pseudo-lake, though it lasted only for a few days at most. Unfortunately, the sudden water increase caught some of the Raptors and they drowned rather anti-climatically. However, at the edge of her vision, she saw some of them managing to leap up the cliff ledges just in time to avoid being caught, despite being completely drenched. _"Through evolution, developed stronger jumping muscles. Allows selection for those able to climb cliffs._"

"_Where do the wings come in?_"

"_Beginning of flight evolution path. Theorized possible flight mutation in future._ _However, not enough time. Requires too many more generations than capable of waiting._"

"_So we just take what they have now and pray that we find something that we can assimilate with actual wings?_"

"_Blunt, but correct._ _Objective is to retrieve genome, improve Zerg speed overall_. _Advice: hot springs about to rapture._"

Sure enough, water began gushing out of various locations down below. The Raptors reacted immediately, scrambling to leap up the cliff as they began escaping their feeding grounds in favor of survival. However, Alexis grinned as she noticed the water level dramatically rise with little checks, causing the fluids to lap at the feet of the Raptors. It may not cover them, but it was enough.

The female Overmind took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, raising a hand that was beginning to spark with electricity. With a loud yell, Alexis leapt out of the undergrowth and tossed her ball of psionic lightning down into the water below, expending most of her strength in the devastating attack. Arcs of energy cackled as they made contact with the water, zigzagging through the air and shocking every living being coated in or near water.

Within seconds, the entire valley was devoid of living Raptors. The badly burnt corpses floated to the top as the survivors of the shock were able to make their way over the cliff. There weren't very many, and the Zergling pack ambush ensured that they were sufficiently brutalized and killed.

Her stamina drained, Alexis fell to the ground gasping for breath as her face broke out in sweat. It was just as she predicted: her mental powers still needed fine tuning. A lot of excessive psionic power went into the lightning cast, and that energy could've better utilized for something better than being simpered off. But that was all in hindsight.

Steeling her synaptic range, the young Overmind slowly got back up on her feet, her limbs feeling like rocks. Her body wanted nothing but to drop to the ground and rest, but doing so could jeopardize the purity of the Raptor genome she was to obtain. So, Alexis commanded the Zergling to bring the nearest corpse to her.

Seeing the dead Raptor body getting dragged across to her, Alexis stumbled forwards and placed a hand on its body, ignoring the bleeding wounds inflicted by the Zerglings. With another deep breath, the girl placed her other hand on her temple and focused. As she withdrew the hand from the reptilian body, orange strands trailed from her digits, condensing and forming a holographic psionic image of a DNA helix in her membrane covered palm.

"_Satisfactory amount collected_," Arthogious reported as it felt the new genes pulsing in Alexis' hands. "_Retrieval successful. Return to Hatchery._"

The Overmind let out a sigh of relief as she closed her hand, storing the DNA sequencing temporarily in her body. It would have to be analyzed and then refuted by Arthogious if it was to be assimilated into the Zerg genome. Now, all she wanted to do was go back and relax after that arduous fight. Hopefully, Kiara was still sleeping.

O O O

**Day 17, Year 1**

Turns out, Kiara was wide awake when Alexis returned. And she was not happy with the way her sister wandered off. That much was obvious when Arthogious was spotted slinking back to the Hatchery, slightly limping from a bruised psionic ego. "Where have you been?" The purple hair woman asked with a calm voice, but her sister could see the fire burning in her eyes.

"I was off doing an Evolution mission," Alexis reluctantly replied, shifting uncomfortable under the harsh glare of her older sibling. "It went well! I didn't get hurt or anything!"

"But what were my orders before I entered the pod?" Kiara leaned forward and stuck her face directly in front of Alexis', making sure the girl was looking directly at the purple eyes. "WHAT DID I SAY?"

"Don't do anything stupid," The blonde and green hair girl mumbled in a very small voice. "I…"

"Just accept the fact that you defied my orders. And for that, I'm going to have to punish you somehow." Kiara rubbed her temples, eyes shut as she contemplated her sister's actions. "Stop and think about it for a second. What if Arthogious had you go against something like Kraith? You wouldn't last a minute in combat!"

Alexis did nothing but look down at her feet, nodding shamefully as her sister lectured her. This was another constant from their previous life. Alexis would do something reckless/dangerous/stupid, and Kiara would catch her in the act somehow and proceed to tell her off, along with a punishment. Hopefully, it wasn't anything too-

"To discourage you from doing anything like this without my guidance again, I'm sentencing you to a training regimen!" Kiara declared and her sister's head snapped upwards, just in time to see a discreet smile on the older woman's face. "A week in the Roach caves! There, you'll hone your psionic skills while working nonstop. That should teach you a thing!"

"…yes…" Alexis' head bowed down, but that was to ensure that Kiara didn't see the wide grin breaking on her face. "But I'll need supervision-"

"We'll all go to help- I mean, watch you train. Hopefully, you'll actually develop something!"

"Of course. This is only suitable to my crime."

**BOO! Happy October 31st everyone! The Rebirth forum should be up in a few days, so that's my treat to you guys!**


	14. Forceful Psionics

**Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft or any of its affiliates**

Forceful Psionics

**Day 18, Year 1**

"Hiya!" Alexis shouted as she threw her arm forwards, palm facing the boulder. Immediately, pulses of green psionic energy gathered and solidified into a ball of power, which was sent towards the huge rock in form of a lightning storm. Arcs of electricity sparked as it collided with the inert material, the rock only slightly shuddering from the attack due to the natural psionic pressure radiating off the storm. "There! How about that?" The young Overmind remarked, slightly out of breath after casting the lightning attack.

"Your stamina has definitely improved," Kiara noted, eyeing all the char markings over the boulder from the last few days of training. "But can you sustain yourself in a fight yet? Cast lightning and still dodge?"

"I'm not about that yet. Again, training the mind, not the body. But here, I learned something cool!" Alexis gathered the psionic energy in her hand again and it cackled with lightning power, but instead of letting it all go, she slammed her other hand into it. The electricity arced all over her body and covered the Overmind in a protective shield of lightning. "Ta-da! The bad guys can't touch me now; I'm like an eel!"

_Unless they are like me and can throw stuff. Then your shield is kinda useless_, Scott remarked, using the psionic link while he explored the deep crystal caverns to keep in touch. _Sorry to be blunt, but that's the truth._

"Either way, that's slightly more impressive," The oldest Overmind admitted, experimentally extending a hand and yanking it back once the electric currents threatened to arc to her own body. "Okay, so you're pretty set on defensive capabilities, even without the armor gene."

"Speaking of which, do you like it?" Alexis asked as she looked at her sister's changed body. With the gene, her body mutated and modified itself to have more carapace overall and increased the thickness of the armor without too much weight gain. It gave Kiara the look of a fierce amazon more than a Queen of Blades and, in the private opinion of her two siblings, did not look very comfortable. "I think it-"

"-is utterly unnecessary and looks ridiculous on me," Kiara finished, shaking her head as she looked at her new body. "I don't like it at all. I think Scott was the better choice; next time Arthogious comes around with a new gene, I'll swap this one out and give the armor to Scott."

"Unadvisable. Newest gene lack synergy with Queen of Blades." The ground rumbled and broke as Arthogious dug itself out, acting as if burrowing was a standard mode of travel. To be fair, in the crystal caverns, it sort of was considering the number of Roach tunnels. "Effect limited if claimed. Better utilized by Princess of Blades."

"Me?" The young girl said with surprise, pointing to herself. "I have a gene made for me specifically?"

"Incorrect. Gene created for broad usage. But is suggested for Princess." With a wave from Arthogious, the creep around Alexis surged upwards and covered the Overmind, creating a transformation pod to give the new gene. It tried to create one around Kiara too, but a glare from the older sister cut the action short. "Removal of armor gene requested for Lord of Blades. Do not comprehend."

"I'm not going to let you do something to Alexis without me watching over, especially after last week's incident. Since I can't exactly watch from a coma-like state in a pod, I'll opt to stay awake until Scott comes around. Then, you can remove the gene, but wake me before you give it to Scott." The purple hair woman gave the creature a knowing smirk. "I'm not ever going let you take advantage of Alexis like that ever again, do you understand?"

"…Understood. Will submit to Queen of Blades."

O O O

As the pod's walls receded, the fluids within dried up upon making contact with air and Alexis stumbled out much like a drunk stumbling around town. Luckily, Kiara was there and caught her little sister as she fell. "You alright there?" The purple hair woman asked, checking her sister's body for any possible injuries.

"I'm fine, just…my head's buzzing," The blond and green hair girl muttered, pressing a hand to her temple. Instantly and without warning, her eyes flared with brilliant neon green as her psionic powers erupted. "Oh…MOVE!"

Sensing the desperate tone in Alexis' voice, Kiara immediately threw herself back just as the air around her sister practically _exploded_, pure psionic energy radiating off the girl as if it was nothing. Her two hands were soon condensed with green spheres of energy, yearning to be released somehow from the young body. And there was the perfect target here in this cavern.

With a cry, Alexis slammed the two hands together, facing the practice boulder as a blast of psionic energy shot out from her aura. As the sphere of energy made contact with the organic material, the rock practically shattered under the force and exploded, sending sharp shrapnel everywhere. The older Overmind let out a hiss of surprise before rising up her arms, feeling the rocks pelt off uselessly against her augmented armor.

Then the shards stopped. Slowly, Kiara lowered her arms in amazement as the shattered rocks stopped and simply hovered in the air, suspended by the psionic air that her younger sister was channeling. But that appeared to be the limit of her powers, as the tense aura faded and the projectiles clattered to the floor anticlimactically. Yet Alexis was barely exhausted by the energy she just burned off. "Holy…mother of Amon…" The girl muttered, swaying back and forth, drunk from all the energy she'd just release.

The woman immediately recalled her own similar episodes of euphoria and realized that, like how Kiara enjoyed physical activity, Alexis must relish psionic energy. "You have to calm down." Kiara quickly approached Alexis and placed her claws on the girl's shoulders, causing the young Overmind to slightly shudder from the physical contact. "You must've siphoned off a lot of energy just now; you can rest."

Alexis took in several deep breaths before her heart rate stabilized and her chest stopped heaving back and forth. The buzzing in her head slightly dissipated but still remained, a constant feeling of pin and cushions pressing against her brain. It wasn't painful too much, but it was sure irritating, like an itch. But the only way to scratch it was by using psionics again. "Sis, is this how you feel every time you get into a fight?" The blond and green hair girl asked, her voice trembling from the power surge flowing through her veins.

"Something like that, but you really get used to having that constant adrenaline need after a while. Burn it off using little tips and tricks, or just by exercising your abilities through practice. That way, your buildup isn't so great but you don't exhaust your entire reserve of energy."

"Okay, that's something I'll have to set up and get used to." The young girl sighed, already knowing that her sister would most likely schedule her own training sessions to coincide. Honestly, she should be a bit more trusting of her younger siblings! "So…the gene gave me a new power by looks of it. It really is good for me, especially as it augments my combat psionic pool by quite a bit."

"How does casting lightning feel now?"

"Way too easy." Her fingers snapped and instantly, sparks condensed and formed of electricity in her hand. Alexis dismissed it with nary a glance at the wasted psionic energy, finding it so much easier to simply control it now. "I think I can set lightning as my main ability and this new power as a secondary. That's really cool, like how we played with Kerrigan in the campaign!"

"Real life isn't a game," Kiara reminded. "We'll have to-"

_Guys!_ Scott shouted through the psionic connection, the two sisters wincing as they heard him practically yelling in their heads._ Stop the chit-chat! I'm under attack down here!_

O O O

The psionic link was suddenly severed as his concentration in sustaining the mental connection broke, as the man had to slide backwards and backflip to avoid the spines being shot in his direction. The Roaches stepped forward and grunted as they took majority of the projectiles, their thick armor holding true against the enemy. But even then, a few of the meager 10 Scott brought had already succumbed to the multiple wounds and had to emergency burrow to heal up before dying.

Zerglings snarled as they weaved in and out of the area, constantly trying to poke and draw aggression off their master. The enemy was not so easily distracted, and they paid the cost dearly when some of the speedy creatures managed to team up and take down one of the serpent-like foes, clawing away at the thinly protected neck and breaking the bones in a heartbeat. It would seem that Hyrdalisks were the complete opposite of Roaches: hard hitting beyond belief, paper thin armor.

That's right. Hydralisks. They were serpent-like creatures that posed upright much like a snake striking, but they instead spat out grooved spines not unlike those that Scott used, hissing all the while in the heated air. Their beady eyes made for precise sharpshooting, spitting out spines at specific vulnerable spots of their prey. Scythe-like claws made for devastating close range combat, allowing the creatures to excel as well when in close combat. But of course, that was only if the light armor could hold up before crumpling.

The remaining Roaches tried spraying acid, but the enemy Hyrdalisks saw the incoming fluids and backed up, enjoying their further range capabilities that the armored beasts lacked. Whistling spines were constantly heard as the foes returned fire that all but suppressed Scott's pack. Zerglings were counter harassing in return, but the male Overmind knew that a bold move was needed to end this fight decisively or risk losing more units. No Roach losses thanks to some good micro, but Zergling casualties were at seven impaled, with only 13 left to carry out the fight with six able Roaches. Four were healing and would get back to the fight eventually, but he needed something now!

Hold it. Calm down. His sister's words reminded him of the many training sessions and Scott took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, opening them to reveal glowing blue orbs. Immediately, his mental processes became lightning fast and the battle around him seemed to slow down as everything was taken in with remarkable input speed. Scott could even sense the spines hurling towards him!

His eyes flickered, blinking out the sweat trickling down the man's eyes, and quickly scanned the foes. About 15 Hydralisks in total. He had 13 Zerglings and six Roaches (not including the four burrowed), 19. He outnumbered them, but did not have the capabilities to go toe to toe in a sustainment battle. And whoever was controlling this pack knew how to kite, which proved a giant problem considering that Roach range was nowhere as good as that of the Hyrdialisk. However, Scott couldn't sense a strong psionic presence anywhere nearby.

That meant the Hyrdalisk pack must be out of their master's synaptic range, meaning they were vulnerable! Scott immediately ordered the Zerglings to cease their harassment and to commit fully to an assault. Even though Hyrdralisks may tear through Zergling armor with those claws of theirs, only one casualty was suffered while the Zergling's teeth managed to rip through two of their foes. This maneuver also allowed more than enough time for the Roaches to charge in as well. The tank-like creatures slammed into the combat with a sickening thud and another Hydralisk fell, concussed by the sudden threat.

As expected, when the Hyrdralisks realized the threat, they immediately broke contact and made for the exit from whence they came. But compared to that of Roaches, their speed was pitifully slow as the healed burrowed Roaches managed to tunnel their way to the exit first and popped out. This surprise ambush successfully tied up the Hydralisks in combat and Scott eagerly took advantage of that by pursuing the trapped foes personally.

There were eight Hydralisks remaining when he reached them, four of their original number felled by the ambush. But they had managed to cripple one of his Roaches through concentrated scything attacks, slicing off the legs of the Zerg creature without hesitation. Another scythe driven through the head finished off the job. But the remainder three remained unfazed by their loss, as they were within synaptic range of a capable Overmind and wear basically fearless. The same cannot be said for the Hydralisks though.

Scott dealt with the first one by simply plunging a spine knife into the beast's exposed chest, driving the point through the heart with a backhanded forward strike and yanking it out just as quickly. Then, with a kick, he pivoted around and knocked away a scythe claw about to take his own head, the male Overmind coolly firing a spine point blank at the second Hydralisk's neck as a counterattack. Again using his legs, Scott made a short jump and placed his foot against the falling corpse, pushing off it as a sideways platform to fly between two exposed foes, his spine knives flicking in and out just in time to make shallow cuts against the Hyrdralisks' throats.

The shock of losing four of their brethren in such a short time was more than enough to shock the morale again of the Hydralisks, as their basic survival instincts kicked in and screamed for them to retreat to live. However, this was a bad idea, as the slow speeds of the Hydralisk proved most disadvantageous and Scott's pack easily caught them. Without any hesitation, the enemy brood was slaughtered to the last serpent, which died screaming in terror as Scott plunged a knife into its head.

"Don't you dare interrupt me when I'm talking to family!" The brown hair man snarled.

**Big announcement! The Rebirth Forum is officially live! If you want a quick and direct link to it, just visit my page! Right now, I have 80% of the RP game finished and posted; by the end of today, I should have it all typed up. Expect a beta test mission to come out soon!**


	15. Expedition into the Core of the Volcano

**Disclaimer: I do not own Starcraft or its affiliates**

Expedition into the Core of the Volcano

**Day 19, Year 1**

Reinforcements need a half day to burrow their way down to where Scott was. Even then, the Overminds need a full day to travel deeper into the crystal caves to where their brother was located, guarding the cavern that linked the Roach caverns to whatever lay below them. Surprisingly, Scott sweating quite a bit as they dropped down from the roofs, the sisters having used the Roach tunnels to fast travel.

"Hey," The man greeted nonchalantly, as if people coming out of Zerg tunnels was a common occurrence. "Safe trip down?"

"Bro! You're unhurt!" Alexis immediately rushed over and tackled her brother around the waist, giving a hug of reassurance. "We though the worst had happened when we lost connection!"

"No, I just got distracted for a few minutes," He explained, giving a nod to his older sister as she took a look around at the Zerg pack gathered here. It wasn't the entire Zerg Swarm by any means, but one shouldn't gawk at a Roach heavy army, especially since they had a slight speed upgrade thanks to the Raptor genes. "So, what do you think? Did I do a good job?"

"Pretty well. I'm more surprised by how you managed to avoid any wounds," Kiara commented and her brother shrugged.

"To be fair, the Roaches took most of the blows intended for me, so I could easily dodge the others. But if I had been alone…well, I don't think that I could come out with all my limbs intact. Definitely could not have pulled off what you did against those Roaches back then."

"But still, that was awesome!" Alexis cheered.

As the three talked, a large thud was heard in the background as Arthogious dropped down from the ceiling, the gene master brushing a spot of dirt off its arms before sliding over to the corpse of the Hyrdralisks. It prodded experimentally at the bodies, but judging from the expression on its face, the creature wasn't pleased. "Not enough essence. Too many fluctuations" Arthogious announced, getting the siblings' attention as it turned. "Require original DNA for assimilation. Request hunt for genome."

"Hunt? Into there?" Scott pointed at the underground entrance and shook his head firmly. "I strongly advise against it. We don't have enough info as of now; I suggest we send a few Zergling scouts in first before advancing with a larger party."

"The scouts could very well warn our foes of our coming, so the element of surprise might be lost," Alexis surprisingly pointed out, her mind buzzing with activity as numerous plans surfaced and fell in her head. "Roach burrowing isn't a good option, considering the high possibilities that the caverns would have lava pools out of our sight and our Roaches could potentially dig into them without prior intel. Moving as one large pack is a giant risk, but we are safer unless some form of separation occurs. Then we'll be divided and at risk."

The three fell into silence as they pondered the best possible strategy. Their resources were quite limited- lack of any actual unit diversity was working against them, as well as their lack of information against foes. "I think that the last plan is the best option considering our circumstances," Kiara declared after a while, nodding slowly as she pondered the formation. "Zerglings with us, Roaches burrowed underneath. That way, the Zerglings can scout for lava pools and alert Roaches about incoming obstacles in their way of digging. And if any enemy outpost or sentry is encountered, Alexis should be able to negate their connection through brute force right?"

"Theoretically? Yes. Realistically? I have no idea." The young girl shrugged, holding her hands upwards in an omniscient gesture. "We know that when two psionic links come into friction, they push until one gives way. And not every synaptic link could be nice as us. Are you sure you want me to try to do this?"

"Yes. If you need any help, just let me know and I can pile on the connection as well while Kiara dispatches the guards," Scott reassured and his younger sister gave a nod of approval. He turned to Arthogious, who was watching the conversation with mild interest, and asked, "Any new genes for me?"

"Queen of Blades to relinquish armor gene. Goes to you. Gene currently in storage, needs time for pod."

"We don't have that," Alexis interjected, her eyes slightly glowing as she felt for a mental trail to follow. "The Hydralisk link is growing dim, and without any Overlords here, I can't maintain it! I need more synaptic enhancing creatures if we are to wait a while. Bro, sorry, but I think you upgrade's gotta wait!"

"No problem. The armor gene isn't that important right now, it only provides slightly thicker carapace. I'm more concerned about this unit hunt!" Scott gestured and the three Overminds turned to the slightly heated entrance to what laid below. The 30 Zerglings and 25 Roaches stood behind the Zerg Swarm in readiness, prepared to execute whatever command their master was to provide. "Let's go!"

O O O

"ABUSE! I CALL THIS ABUSE AND TORTURE!"

"Oh, shush already!"

"LET ME GO! I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE!"

"Bro, you're being kinda pathetic now."

"PATHETIC? I HAVE ALL RIGHTS TO BE PANICKED!"

Both the sisters sighed as they tightened their respective grips on Scott's wrists and ignored his pleas for release. How could Kiara and Alexis have known that he had a phobia heat? To imagine that he would be terrified by a few lava droplets!

Well, to be fair, it wasn't exactly a few droplets. Rather, the unknown caves revealed themselves to be a series of interconnected lava rivers, with natural rock formations acting as bridges and paths through the liquid fire. The fluid gushed from multiple sources in the form of waterfalls, ever pouring more into the never filled lakes of lava.

"We all should be afraid of fire! It's like, the worst element there is!" Scott ranted, trying futilely to dig in his heels as his siblings kept dragging him along the ground. "Regardless of any improvements, our bodies are still human in base and will suffer drastic damage if any of the lava splashes on us!"

"Excuses, excuses." Kiara rolled her eyes and made a mock yawn with her free hand. "Listen, we are Overminds. If we wanted to, I'm sure we could figure out a gene that allows us to _drink_ lava. Right Arthogious?"

"Theoretically possible," The creature replied as it slithered behind the Overminds, slightly amused at the situation the three siblings were currently in. "Would take multiple genes however. Output lacks input justification."

"Then we'll grit out teeth and bare it!" The purple hair woman declared. "A little fire's not going to hurt us!"

"….a little fire did kill us though…" Alexis quietly pointed out and the Zerg column stopped when their masters halted in their tracks. Kiara turned to look at Arthogious, who followed the younger sister's words very closely with much interest. "I mean, when you think about it, we did-"

"Get scarred painfully before meeting the Swarm!" Kiara and Scott quickly interjected, the latter managing to stumble onto his feet to refute his sister's mistake. "We use to have burn scars on our hands from making fire by hand! Sometimes the pain was a lot like dying!"

"…Understood." The Zerg creature folded its hands and looked away, feigning disinterest as Kiara glared at it. Instinctively, she let go of Scott's hand and made to go slap the monster in the face to obtain a real confession. The gesture released the younger brother, as he was able to wrench his other hand out of the younger sibling's grasp. Immediately, he moved backwards.

With his hands out wide, the limbs slammed into both female Overminds and knocked them backwards, just in time as a large rock slammed down where the three had been standing. "Ambush!" He bellowed, his eyes glowing blue as he analyzed the tactical situation. However, the impact of crashing against the ground disoriented the man and his mind processed the situation slower.

Already, Kiara was leaping back onto her feet, snarling as she glared at the appearing Hydralisks on the other side of the lava bank. Taking only a few steps back to gain distance, the purple hair woman sprinted forwards suddenly and leapt, easily bridging the gap between the two segments in a single maneuver. She could easily handle the Hydralisks in close quarters.

However, thanks to a shout of warning from his younger sister, Scott turned and spotted what looked to be a giant Hydralisk variant emerging from their column's flank, surfacing from the underground with a snarl. It looked oddly different, with six instead of two scythe arms. Also, how the hell did the Roaches miss that in the ground?!

"Kinetic blast!" The girl shouted, throwing off a psionic ball in the foe's direction. It struck directly, but the energy was deflected by the armor and the creature snarled, unfazed by the strike. But Alexis wasn't one to be deterred easily and she began charging up her next shot.

Seeing that the Zerg troops were still awaiting orders, Scott immediately surfaced the Roaches and sent the Zerglings outwards, with the command to surround their foe. The smaller beasts surged forward in a wave, catching their enemy and quickly making melee contact with it. The giant Hyrdrlisk snarled and swiped with one of its scythes, throwing back three Zerglings back as their bodies sailed lifelessly in the air. But it wasn't enough to break the morale at all, for their master was present!

Then the Roaches slammed into the Hydralisk variant and the monster bellowed as their sharp tusks actually scored multiple hits across its gut. This time, as it tried striking the Roaches with a limb, the claws merely dug into the armor and caused no actual damage despite hitting. The thick carapace certainly lived up to its reputation in combat; this foe would be dispelled in no time.

Scott's eyes flickered as they caught more movement in the ground shifting on their home bank. "We've got more company!" He yelled, directing his sister over to the reinforcing enemy Zerg reinforcements. "More of those blasted variants!"

"I thought that this was the boss!" The blonde yelled, firing off another psionic shot just as the next monster emerged from the ground. It completely missed her target. "Hey, look behind you! Sis is clear!"

He whirled around and indeed, Kiara had just finished kicking the last normal Hydralisk into the lava, letting the beast screech in pain as it burned alive in the liquid fire. The older sister saw her brother's glance and moved forwards, intent on leaping back across to aid her siblings. But just as she took a few steps forward, the two stone ledges began falling apart! "Scott! Alexis!"

Taking in a deep breath and making mental note not to look down at the lava river containing many burnt bodies, Scott followed his eldest sister's footsteps and sprinted forwards, leaping over as the stone crumbled on his feet. In a heartbeat, he knew he wasn't going to make it, but Kiara's hand shot out and grabbed her younger brother just as he dangled over the edge. With a grunt, the two Overminds managed to scramble onto the stone bank and turned around.

Alexis had abandoned her Kinetic Blasts in favor of her psionic lightning, throwing her arms outwards and having electricity arc from her fingertips. The four bolts flew towards an approaching foe, but only one was able to make contact and it pierced through the Hydralisk monster's armor, the monster roaring through its mouthful of smoke. It seemed that that particular shot was barely tolerated by the beast's body. "Go! These guys are mine!" The girl yelled.

"Are you sure? Those things are bigger than you!"

In response to her sister's concern, the young girl rolled her eyes and let out another batch of lightning energy. This time, the electricity actually did damage to the targeted Hydralisk monstrosity as green energy coursed through its body, dealing some damage. "I said I can do this! Leave it to me!"

"Our best choice now would be to rapid advance and eliminate the boss," Scott quickly calculated, his mind deciding on a single path of victory. "Our pack should have more than enough to hold up their corner, even if the enemy has more Hydralisk reinforcements en route. There's no need to fear a morale rout either, as Alexis is nearby and providing unbreakable synapse. We follow the psionic trail and find the enemy provider, so that when we kill it, the Hydralisk synapse should break and we will be able to reign in control."

Kiara sighed and nodded in agreement, conceding her protests for the greater good of the Swarm. She turned to her younger brother with a slight smile on her face as she remarked, "You're getting better at this 'calm' thing."

"Of course. Now, let's get cracking."


End file.
